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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25212712">When It's All Over</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marjojo02/pseuds/Marjojo02'>Marjojo02</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Aang (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Aangst, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Air Nomad Genocide (Avatar), Air Nomad Lore (Avatar), Air Nomads (Avatar), Anticipation, Anxiety, Aromantic Toph Beifong, Badass Toph Beifong, Badgermoles, Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Big Brother Zuko (Avatar), Birth, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Bloodbender Katara (Avatar), Bloodbending (Avatar), Break Up, Bromance, Brother-Sister Relationships, Canon - TV, Canon Compliant, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-cultural, Cultural Differences, Deleted Scenes, Drunk Sokka (Avatar), Earthbending &amp; Earthbenders, Ember Island (Avatar), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s01e03 The Southern Air Temple, Episode: s01e04 The Warriors of Kyoshi, Episode: s01e05 The King of Omashu, Episode: s01e06 Imprisoned, Episode: s01e07-08 Winter Solstice, Episode: s01e09 The Waterbending Scroll, Episode: s01e10 Jet, Episode: s01e14 The Fortuneteller, Episode: s01e15 Bato of the Water Tribe, Episode: s01e18 The Waterbending Master, Episode: s01e19-20 The Siege of the North, Episode: s02e02 The Cave of Two Lovers, Episode: s02e04 The Swamp, Episode: s02e06 The Blind Bandit, Episode: s02e12 The Serpent's Pass, Episode: s02e14 City of Walls and Secrets, Episode: s02e17 Lake Laogai, Episode: s02e20 The Crossroads of Destiny, Episode: s03e02 The Headband, Episode: s03e03 The Painted Lady, Episode: s03e12 The Western Air Temple, Episode: s03e17 The Ember Island Players, Episode: s03e21 Sozin's Comet Part 4 Avatar Aang, Established Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Fluff, Fertility Issues, Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Politics (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, First Dates, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Foreshadowing, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gaang (Avatar), Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Genocide, Graphic Novel, Grief/Mourning, Happy Aang, Happy Ending, Healers, Healing, Healthy Relationships, Hurt/Comfort, Infertility, Katara &amp; Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Katara (Avatar)-centric, Kyoshi Island, Lake Laogai (Avatar), Love Amongst the Dragons, Making Out, Marriage, Metalbending &amp; Metalbenders, Minor Mai/Zuko, Miscarriage, Missing Scene, POV Aang (Avatar), POV Katara (Avatar), POV Toph Beifong, POV Zuko (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Politics, Post-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Post-Battle, Post-Canon, Post-Colonial, Post-Episode: s03e18-21 Sozin's Comet, Post-Finale, Post-War, Promises, Protective Katara (Avatar), Protective Parents, Relationship Advice, Reunion Sex, Reunions, Romance, Romantic Angst, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Gestures, Science Nerd Sokka, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Spirit Water, Spirit World, Spirits, Team as Family, Theater Nerd Zuko (Avatar), Therapist Sokka, Toph Beifong Being Awesome, Toph Beifong-centric, Underage Kissing, Waterbending &amp; Waterbenders, Western Air Temple, Zuko (Avatar) Gets a Hug, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, anti-Zutara, super mild implied past nonconsensual</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:29:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>169,414</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25212712</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marjojo02/pseuds/Marjojo02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the heartbreak of the "Ember Island Players" episode, Katara finally figures out her feelings for Aang. Zuko gives romantic advice, shows his political genius, and starts to understand the meaning of friendship. TV-canon-compatible missing moments, extending beyond the finale. </p><p>In the year following the end of the war, Aang and his friends embark on "the Avatar Victory Tour," in which they revisit many places from their travels during the series. Along the way, Aang and Katara's relationship deepens, even as they confront some new complications. </p><p>Current chapter: The Gaang revisits the Jang Hui River</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; Bumi (Avatar), Aang &amp; Hakoda (Avatar), Aang &amp; Jet (Avatar), Aang &amp; Kanna (Avatar), Aang &amp; Katara &amp; Sokka &amp; Toph, Aang &amp; Ozai (Avatar), Aang &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Aang &amp; Toph Beifong, Aang &amp; Toph Beifong &amp; Katara &amp; Sokka &amp; Suki &amp; Zuko, Aang &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Arnook &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda &amp; Katara (Avatar), Hakoda &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Haru &amp; Katara, Haru &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Iroh &amp; Katara (Avatar), Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Jet &amp; Katara (Avatar), Kanna &amp; Katara (Avatar), Kanna &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Kanna &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Kanna/Pakku (Avatar), Katara &amp; Mai (Avatar), Katara &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Katara &amp; Suki (Avatar), Katara &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Lao Beifong &amp; Toph Beifong, Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Poppy Beifong &amp; Toph Beifong, Sokka &amp; Aunt Wu, Sokka &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), The Gaang &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong &amp; Bumi, Toph Beifong &amp; Katara, Toph Beifong &amp; Meng, Toph Beifong &amp; Original Character(s), Toph Beifong &amp; Original Male Character(s), Toph Beifong &amp; Sokka, Toph Beifong &amp; The Gaang, Toph Beifong &amp; Toph Beifong's Parents, Toph Beifong &amp; Tyro, Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko, Zuko &amp; Pakku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>483</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kataang Discord Collection</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Zuko and Katara</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This chapter takes place the day after the Ember Island Players episode.</p>
<p>Something was off. Zuko could tell. That ridiculous propaganda play last night had gotten to them all, but Aang seemed the most disheartened. He wouldn’t even meet Katara’s eyes when she served him breakfast, which he only picked at, when usually he went straight to her, chatting happily as if she were his favorite person in the world. Zuko watched Katara as she ate her own food. She looked up at Aang every once in a while, then turned back to her plate, discouraged. The others were joking about the play, making plans for the day, or just stuffing their faces contentedly. But those two were silent. Zuko thought back to the play, how Katara had run after Aang, who had left after a particular moment in the drama. He had planned on exercising and practicing with Aang this morning, but he could tell that the Avatar would be useless today. It annoyed him; there was so little time! How could he get Aang’s mental state back on track? First he needed to find out what was wrong between those two, and he had a feeling Katara would be an easier mark than Aang. They seemed to understand each other since he’d helped her track down her mother’s killer. </p>
<p>He told Aang to practice earth bending with Toph, hoping that a physical outlet like that would help him get through whatever he was feeling. Then he found Katara alone gathering some grains to feed Appa. </p>
<p>“So what’s going on with you and Aang?” </p>
<p>“What?” </p>
<p>“Ever since we came home from that terrible play, you’ve both been a wreck. I can’t train him unless he’s in a fit state of mind. I thought you’d be able to tell me what’s happening between you two.” </p>
<p>She closed her eyes and sighed, then sat down facing away from him. She seemed humiliated and dejected. </p>
<p>“He kissed me.” </p>
<p>“Oh.” Zuko sat down near her, facing a different direction. He couldn’t figure out why that was such a bad thing. It had always been clear to him that the Avatar and the water bender had a strong connection. They often acted in a way that read to Zuko as flirtatious. When he’d been stalking Aang from afar, he’d sometimes thought of Katara as “the girlfriend” because of the way the boy had acted so protective of her during confrontations, even though as a bender herself she could hold her own. Now that he’d observed them more closely since joining the group, he’d noticed a stiffness and awkwardness between them that seemed like it might be new. There were some strict physical boundaries that they seemed to hold between them, as if they were working very hard to show everyone, perhaps even themselves, that they were Just Friends. Still, the way she was acting about a simple kiss didn’t compute for Zuko.  “Was it the first time?” He asked softly. </p>
<p>She sighed. “No. He kissed me during the battle on the day of the eclipse. He said something about what if he doesn’t make it, and kissed me, and flew off.” </p>
<p>“So this is why he walked out when you—in the play--said you loved him like a brother?” </p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>Ok, that made more sense. Now Zuko was understanding their relationship more—Aang had a possibly unrequited crush. To watch a scene like that, on top of the many insults that play had dealt him, would have been a lot for the young Avatar. </p>
<p>“And then you talked to him after the play and he kissed you again.” </p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>“So you don’t like him like that?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know! That’s the problem! I don’t know how I feel, so I was just pretending that kiss during the battle didn’t happen, and then he confronted me with it directly, and I pushed him away, and I know it really hurt his feelings.” That last point seemed agonizing to her. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry for my language, Katara, but that’s bullshit.”</p>
<p>She turned to face him directly. “Excuse me?” There was a menace in her voice that made him glad they weren’t near enough water for her to drown him. Zuko looked straight into her eyes. </p>
<p>“You know how you feel. You’ve spent every day with him for the past year, and you’ve been through so much together. You know how you feel, but you’re afraid to admit it, even to yourself, either because you don’t want to hurt him, or because you’re afraid of having a real relationship.” </p>
<p>She gasped, and her mouth stayed open a beat, as if she wanted to respond, but couldn’t think of what to say. Zuko pressed on. </p>
<p>“I really don’t understand this, Katara. You’re no coward. Not in conflicts with enemies or friends. Not even in facing your own demons. To be honest, I thought you two were already together. The way you and Aang look to each other first, and protect each other, the way you’re both willing to sacrifice everything for each other—if that’s not love, what is?” </p>
<p>Zuko saw tears gathering in her eyes, and got ready to apologize for being too harsh, when she spoke up. “I do love him. He’s the best person I’ve ever known. There’s nothing I wouldn't do to keep him safe and happy. But am I in love with him?” she shrugged. “Maybe. I have no idea what that would feel like. And I don’t think I’m ready for it.”</p>
<p>Ok, that was fair. She was only, what, 14? “You guys are really young.”</p>
<p>“You’re not that much older than me.”</p>
<p>“And my two extra years of wisdom and experience still don’t give me the slightest understanding of a relationship as caring and functional as you two, even with this disagreement. Explain, please.” </p>
<p>She sighed, and her voice softened. “The truth is a lot of the time, he’s just Aang. My best friend. He acts like a kid and I can be a kid too when I’m with him. We have fun and it’s like we can forget about the war for a while.” </p>
<p>“That actually sounds kind of great.” Zuko wished he could escape the war and act his age sometimes. If he had someone who could help him do that, it would be incredibly attractive. He thought of Mai and sighed. </p>
<p>“Yeah, it usually is. But other times I have to act like his mom and make him get down to business.” She rolled her eyes. </p>
<p>“I can see how that might be a turn off. You do have kind of a...mother hen thing that you do, and it’s not limited to Aang.” She glared at him, and he put up his hands innocently. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing! The group probably needs someone to take that role, and you’re pretty good at it. But I can see that it takes you out of a...potential girlfriend state of mind.” He paused. “So you’re telling me there is no spark between the two of you?” </p>
<p>She gave a dry laugh, and her lips quirked in a half smile. “In the Cave of Two Lovers, we kissed in the dark and made the whole place light up.” </p>
<p>Zuko’s eyes widened. “Can’t get more romantic than that.” But she wasn’t done. </p>
<p>“Before the eclipse, he threw a party in a cave. He asked me to dance with him and he was actually suave, which was new. Like, can you imagine Aang being suave?” </p>
<p>“Not sure that I want to.” </p>
<p>“He’s a really good dancer. It was fun and we moved together so well and he looked in my eyes, and he looked serious and playful at the same time. It made me feel beautiful and grown up and just intrigued.” She was blushing just thinking of it.</p>
<p>“And I’m guessing you haven‘t danced with him again since.” </p>
<p>“Well, there was never time.” </p>
<p>“Bullshit. A dance takes two minutes. I guarantee he would have made time for a dance with you if he thought you’d say yes.”  </p>
<p>She sighed, and impatiently ran her fingers through her hair. “The truth is I liked things between us the way they were and didn’t want to change them. I liked just being friends. It was simple and I understood how it worked. I knew he liked me. How could I not? He’s an open book. And knowing he liked me was nice. It made me feel special. I guess I thought we could go on like that forever, or at least that we could just be kids for a while, and wait until we were older to do anything about our feelings.”</p>
<p>“War has a way of making people grow up fast.”</p>
<p>“He came to terms with that quicker than I did.” </p>
<p>“Why is that?” Zuko made his voice as gentle as possible.  </p>
<p>“I’ve been afraid.” She looked down into her lap.</p>
<p>“I don’t think of you as someone who gives in easily to fear.” </p>
<p>“After we fled Ba Sing Se, Aang was unconscious for weeks, and I had to take care of him like he was a giant baby doll.”</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry. That must have been hard for you.” He felt guilty again, thinking of the part he’d played in the battle that had left Aang in that state. </p>
<p>“You have no idea.” There was a testiness in her voice that made Zuko think she was having the same thoughts about his culpability. But it drained away in the sadness of her next statement. “I came so close to losing him. I was too anxious to sleep most nights. I thought I’d wake up and he‘d be gone.  And I was so worried about what that would mean for the world, that I couldn’t even begin to contemplate what it would mean for me.”</p>
<p>“And it sounds like you still haven’t begun to contemplate what surviving that experience has meant for you. It changed you.” </p>
<p>“Yeah. It did.” </p>
<p>“You still see him like that, don’t you? Fragile, hanging on by a thread, dependent on you?”</p>
<p>“I guess so. Sometimes.” </p>
<p>“He’s not. He’s strong. He has more than a chance against my father, he has a good chance. The longer I stay here and train with him, the more confident I feel that I didn’t just choose the good team, the right team, but the winning team.” </p>
<p>That made her perk up. Zuko realized it was probably the most optimistic thing she’d ever heard him say. “Really? How good a chance?” she asked. </p>
<p>“If he doesn’t let his pacifism handicap him, 60-40.” </p>
<p>Those numbers, and that condition, deflated her. “That’s a big if.” </p>
<p>“I know. And I think you know that if Aang dies at this point, a broken heart would be the least of your problems.” </p>
<p>“Yes, I know that.” </p>
<p>“Like you, I have staked my life on the Avatar in his battle against my own father. If he fails, and you and I don’t fall in battle ourselves, we will be executed, or imprisoned for life, if we’re lucky. I think you owe it to him and yourself to figure this out before it’s too late.” </p>
<p>“But the way I feel makes no sense! Yes, I feel a spark, but I have zero desire to do anything about it. I just don’t have the mental space to think about anyone that way right now! Like, do you ask a starving person to paint a picture? No, you have to feed them before they can do anything like that. I’m just too worried and too focused on making sure we all survive to even consider starting a relationship. It’s like a piece of my heart is just frozen.”</p>
<p>“I get that. It actually makes a lot of sense. But the thing is, for Aang it might be the opposite. Maybe he needs love and joy to get him through this. There was a story I heard from one of the generals, whose father was involved in Sozin’s attacks on the Air Nomads, I never forgot. They were outnumbered and knew they didn’t have a chance, but the whole night before the last battle, the Fire Nation soldiers heard them making music. After they’d been defeated, and they were basically just waiting to be killed, they spent their last moments singing. It was exactly because they had nothing left that they reached for each other and created beauty.”</p>
<p>“Oh, God.” Her eyes were wide, horrified. “Is it wrong of me to withhold myself from him, if that’s how he’s thinking and feeling?” </p>
<p>“No, of course not. No one ever has an obligation to be intimate with anyone else. Your feelings are just as valid, and just as out of your control, as Aang’s are for him. If you really feel like you can’t even access that part of yourself right now, it’s not right for anyone to try to make you.” </p>
<p>“But I do want to be there for him, and if that’s what he needs...”</p>
<p>“I think all that he really needs is to know that you care, and that he does have a chance at a future with you. See, right now he’s so dejected that he’s useless for bending, but if you make his wildest dreams come true, he’ll be just as distracted. From that perspective, I think the best strategy might be for you to give him hope, but put him off.”</p>
<p>“Until when?”</p>
<p>“Until it’s all over, I guess. Isn’t that kind of what your heart’s really been telling you anyway, by keeping you from wanting to examine your feelings?” </p>
<p>“I guess so. But what about what you just said, that if I don’t tell him now, then I’ll never get a chance because we’ll all be dead?”</p>
<p>“That was just my bleakest, most pessimistic take. My former villain voice. Ignore it. Like I also said, we have staked our lives on Aang’s success, so we have to act as if we are certain he will win, and trust that there will be plenty of time for romance after my father’s defeat. Have faith in him.”</p>
<p>She took a deep breath and then shook her head. “I feel like you’re giving me mixed messages here. Have faith in Aang, but also we’re all going to die. I love him, but don’t tell him now. He needs me, but I don’t have to give him what he needs. Give him hope but put him off. I can’t tell what side you’re on.” </p>
<p>“I’m a complicated guy.”</p>
<p>“I can’t believe I’m taking romantic advice from you, of all people.”</p>
<p>“And to think, just a few weeks ago you were threatening me.” Zuko’s tone was light, his smile lopsided.</p>
<p>“It’s almost as if you’ve changed.” Katara matched his sarcasm sweetly. “But if your advice hurts Aang, then I really will kill you.” She could almost keep a straight face as she pointed her finger at Zuko’s chest.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Aang and Sokka</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This chapter takes place about the same time as the first, the day after the Ember Island Players episode.</p>
<p>Chapter Two</p>
<p>Zuko had called off their practice, and Toph had gotten frustrated with Aang's lackluster earth bending and went off in the tunnels with Haru, so he had nothing to do. He tried meditating, but it wouldn't work. Whenever he let his mind go, he just imagined Katara leaving him for some other guy and never seeing her again. He felt so raw and rejected. More than anything, he wished he'd kept his big mouth shut instead of confronting her.</p>
<p>He saw Sokka by himself, fishing on the dock. He joined him, and the older boy gave a quick acknowledgement, then looked back out to his line. It was somewhat comforting to just be near someone as solid and reliable and good-humored as Sokka.</p>
<p>"Do you think Katara could ever like me?"</p>
<p>Sokka seemed taken aback. "Well, yeah." He shrugged, and looked at Aang as if he had just asked if water was wet. "I always thought you two had a thing. I'm not necessarily saying I'm thrilled about it, but I'd be dumb to say it's not there."</p>
<p>"What about Zuko?"</p>
<p>"What about him?"</p>
<p>"Do you think she might like him instead?"</p>
<p>"What? No! That's crazy. She can barely stand him."</p>
<p>"You saw the way she hugged him after they got back from their little trip. But you weren't there when Iroh and I found them in the crystal catacombs under Ba Sing Se. They were really close, and she was touching his scar."</p>
<p>Sokka was taken aback. His eyebrows shot up. "She mentioned that they did have a moment there. But then she said that was exactly why she didn't trust him, because he chose to join Azula even after that."</p>
<p>"She's over it now. And, I mean, he's older, and taller."</p>
<p>"All right, I'll admit, most girls her age would look at Zuko and you, and see one guy who's gone through puberty and has hair, and...stop looking. But you're also the most powerful bender on the planet, and her best friend. You can't ignore your history together! Katara has spent the past year with you, traveling the world, having awesome adventures, learning waterbending with you and flirting all the time, while being chased and terrorized by Zuko. You remember how he tied her to a tree? I'm sure she remembers. I mean, some people are into that. But not Katara. She is much too well-adjusted. I am her brother and that is where I'm going to stop thinking about that."</p>
<p>"Some people like getting tied up?" Aang felt genuinely puzzled to hear that.</p>
<p>"Yes, and you are much too young and pure of heart to understand. Also, you didn't see Zuko's ex-girlfriend fight his sister to help us escape from the Boiling Rock. I don't think those two are finished with each other."</p>
<p>"Oh. I guess that's good."</p>
<p>"And you know you're going to grow, right?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Eventually."</p>
<p>"The real question is, why are you asking me these questions now? Was it the play last night?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, when the Katara in the play said she loved me like a brother." It almost made him feel sick to remember it. "Do you think that's true?"</p>
<p>"Maybe, maybe not. It was a really stupid play, Aang."</p>
<p>"I know."</p>
<p>"Like, colossally stupid. So dumb their idea of authentic Southern Water Tribe attire would get you frozen solid in about 10 minutes. So incredibly stupid they couldn't even fathom my legendary wit!</p>
<p>"I know, it was a terrible play." Aang repeated glumly.</p>
<p>"So why do you act like it knows more about Katara than you and I do?"</p>
<p>"Because after the play, I asked her straight out, how she feels about me, and she said she didn't know! And then I kissed her and she pushed me away!"</p>
<p>"That's rough, buddy. So what are you asking me?"</p>
<p>"Just, what should I do?"</p>
<p>"You're asking me if you should start a romance with my sister, now, of all times?"</p>
<p>"I guess."</p>
<p>"Then my answer is no. Not now. You do realize that we're in a war? That you need to focus 100% of your attention on defeating the Fire Lord?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I think that was her main point."</p>
<p>"My sister, she's pretty smart. She's related to me, after all."</p>
<p>"But that's exactly why I wanted to kiss her, and tell her how I feel! We were going into battle and I didn't want to face death without telling her."</p>
<p>"Ok, I get that. Did it make you feel better in the moment?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I guess so."</p>
<p>"Then it served its purpose. What good does it do to push things now? She just turned you down."</p>
<p>Aang flopped down. "Because I'm miserable!"</p>
<p>Sokka shrugged. "So be miserable for a while. But not too long, because you need to train."</p>
<p>Aang scowled and curled up in a ball. When everyone kept talking about how much he needed to train, it made him feel like he was shirking and failing his duty to the whole world. Again.</p>
<p>"Let me be your older, much wiser brother for a minute." Sokka patted the back of his neck. "I think if you really care about Katara, you'll let her go and stop pushing this. You've let her know how you feel, and now she can make the next move whenever she's ready."</p>
<p>Aang uncurled his body. That phrase, 'let her go,' caught his attention. It reminded him of the insistent message of the guru he'd left behind before the disaster at Ba Sing Se. He'd hated hearing it then because he wasn't sure what it meant. Stop loving her, as if it were possible to simply turn off his feelings? Give up on ever being with her? Never see her again? Let her die? He'd assumed then that it meant the last one of those, which was completely unacceptable. But it sounded now like Sokka was suggesting it meant something different. He needed clarification.</p>
<p>"And what do I do until then?"</p>
<p>"You just…wait. And be her friend. And train."</p>
<p>Aang took a deep breath and nodded slowly. He could do that. That wasn't so bad. Actually, just being Katara's friend was pretty great.</p>
<p>"C'mon, cheer up." Sokka patted his shoulder. "I have total confidence that when the war is over and you and Katara are…25 and 27, then you'll be able to make her fall in love with you if you still want to. Want to know my secret with women? Just have fun with her. Make her laugh. Show her a good time. You're a fun guy, Aang. You got this."</p>
<p>Suddenly he felt a lot better. Having fun with Katara—that was probably his favorite thing in the world, and he had to admit, he was very good at it. He took a deep meditative breath and decided. He would try to live in this feeling of misery for a while, and accept it, like the monks taught him, and then let it go. He wouldn't exactly give up on ever being with her, but he would fully accept that he wasn't with her now, and that was ok. He would stop all the romantic stuff and wait for a signal from her, and in the meantime he'd be the best friend to Katara that he could. And then, later, when everything was ok, then he could show Katara how much fun they could have together.</p>
<p>"Thanks, Sokka. That actually helped a lot."</p>
<p>"Don't mention it, buddy."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Katara and Aang</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Three</p><p>Katara saw Aang sitting alone on the beach. He didn't look lonely and dejected, like he had this morning. He looked like he might be meditating. It made her feel hesitant to interrupt him, but she knew she had to take this moment. It wasn't often she could get him alone, and he couldn't afford to miss another day of training. She walked over and sat down beside him.</p><p>He didn't move until she touched his arm lightly. Then his eyes opened, blinked and focused on her. He smiled, that same smile, such a relief. Maybe she hadn't ruined everything after all. That brightness of his was still there.</p><p>"I wanted to apologize," she began. "I know I hurt your feelings last night, and I'm sorry."</p><p>"No, Katara, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. I kissed you when you clearly didn't want me to."</p><p>"No, Aang, that's the problem. I haven't been clear with you. That's mostly because I haven't been clear with myself. I've been too afraid to figure out my feelings for you, and that's not fair to you. That's why I have a proposal for you."</p><p>"A proposal?" The word shocked Aang. They were only twelve and fourteen!</p><p>"Yes. After this is all over, after you've defeated Fire Lord Ozai and the world is at peace—I'd like to go on a date with you."</p><p>Aang's eyes were wide and a wide grin was creeping slowly across his mouth. "A date."</p><p>"Yes, a date. You know, when a guy and a girl go out together and—"</p><p>"I know what a date is." He'd grown up in a monastery, but he'd seen enough of courtship rituals during their year of travel to understand the concept. The hope and vulnerability that crept into his voice next almost broke her heart. "Does this mean you do…like me like that?"</p><p>Katara paused and took a deep breath. It would be so easy to tell him yes. She was sorely tempted to allow herself to be swept along by his desire for her, and to pretend it would be enough for both of them, but she forced herself to remember the wise course of action she had decided on. She looked deep in his eyes, and let her voice warm with the true affection she felt for him, hoping it would come across. "It means I want to figure out if I do, at a time when I have the mental energy to give a relationship the attention it deserves. It means I want to give you—give us a chance."</p><p>"A chance," he repeated, seeming entranced by her eyes.</p><p>"But not now," She repeated firmly, to be sure he understood the most important part of her message.</p><p>"Not now. Right. After I defeat the Fire Lord." He nodded, almost absently, as if that were a simple, easily met condition, before breaking into another wide grin and exclaiming, "I am going to take you on the best date in the history of the world!" He leapt into the air, and she felt a whoosh as he bent the air around him, performing cartwheels and twirls in the air. The joy in his movements was contagious, and she couldn't help but laugh, so happy and relieved to have made him feel so good. If this was how happy she could make him, just by promising him a date at some unknown time in the future, it thrilled her to imagine his happiness if that piece of her heart ever melted.</p><p>She laughed again as he finally landed beside her. "I can't wait." She opened her arms for a hug. She meant it to be sisterly, but it lingered a bit, so that they felt a little awkward when they pulled away. Their hands fell together, and stayed clasped as they walked back to the camp.</p><p>When they returned, the others were sitting around the fire, still talking about that wretched play.</p><p>Aang's bright mood dimmed almost instantly when he realized the topic.</p><p>"And what was going on with my hair?" Zuko asked, pulling his hair up in spikes to show the ridiculous hairstyle of the actor who had played him.</p><p>"At least they didn't make you a girl," Aang grumbled, his happiness suddenly spoiled.</p><p>"You know, I always thought there was something intriguingly androgynous about you, Aang." Katara said in a flirtatious voice, her eyes teasing.</p><p>"Androgynous?" Aang didn't appear to know the word.</p><p>"Androgynous." Zuko repeated, showing off his fancy royal education. "Having both male and female qualities."</p><p>"I'm not—" Aang protested.</p><p>"Hey, you looked really good in those Kyoshi robes and makeup." Sokka reminded him.</p><p>"I always thought a man who's in touch with his feminine side is incredibly attractive, don't you agree?" Katara added slyly to Suki, who nodded enthusiastically.</p><p>"Definitely. You were female in half of your past lives, right, Aang?" Suki asked.</p><p>"Aang, if you find it insulting to be portrayed by a woman, that's like saying there's something wrong with women, that we're inferior." Katara pointed out, her voice teasing.</p><p>"That's not what I meant! I love women! They're not inferior! It's just that I'm not a woman. In this life. Not that there would be anything wrong with that if I were." Aang's face reddened as he incoherently tried to justify his feelings without offending anyone.</p><p>Zuko cut him off and ended Aang's awkward protestations. "In all fairness to Aang, it absolutely was meant as an insult by the playwright. Fire culture has a lot of misogyny in it. They wanted to make the Avatar a joke, make him look weak, so they made him a woman. If Aang feels insulted, it's not because he thinks women are inferior, but because he recognizes the insult for what it is. He's just not good at articulating why he's insulted."</p><p>"So were you defending me just now, or calling me stupid?"</p><p>"Both, I guess." Zuko smirked.</p><p>"Want to know my least favorite part of that entire horrible show?" Katara changed her voice to sound sultry, like the actress who had played her. "I have to admit, Prince Zuko, I really find you attractive." She made a face. "I almost lost my dinner. Zuko, I no longer think you're the worst person in the world, and I might even admit to some grudging admiration of your firebending skill and the way you've turned your life around. But you are just not my type. All that darkness, and brooding, and angst about losing your honor? Too much drama for me. No offense."</p><p>"None taken. The feeling is mutual. I'm glad to be on your team, Katara, but you're altogether too…hopeful for me. Not my style. That scene was so uncomfortable to watch." Zuko shuddered.</p><p>Out of the corner of her eye, Katara saw Aang smile a little. Maybe she'd been able to calm some of the other lingering insecurities the play had brought up for him.</p><p>"Let me tell you, when this war is over, I have all kinds of ideas for how we could tell the true story of the Avatar and his glorious defeat of the Fire Lord." Sokka changed the subject. "First, I write all the jokes. Second, more authentic costumes. Third, better special effects than ribbon dancing. Maybe real benders as the actors!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. After Agni Kai</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Four: Katara and Zuko</p><p>Setting: Just after the end of the Agni Kai battle in the final episode.</p><p>When Katara finished putting out the fires, she helped Zuko walk into the palace. Azula's screams and the clanking of her chains grated on her ears as she walked away from the mad princess.</p><p>"Stay away from her, for your own safety," she heard Zuko tell a guard, "Let her tire herself out." He told Katara where to go in the palace to find his room. It wasn't far. Astonished servants and guards mostly kept their distance from them as they made their limping way through the opulent hallways.</p><p>They came to a bedroom with a gigantic bed. Katara helped him lay down and found a basin of water on a stand. She brought it over to the bed and sat down next to him.</p><p>The lightning burn didn't look so bad on the outside, but she also knew that the really worrisome injuries were likely to be internal and invisible. She began working the water over Zuko's chest, and his face relaxed a little. The more closely she examined the damage, the more she continued reproaching herself for interfering in the Agni Kai battle. She bent the water back into the basin and covered her face.</p><p>"This is my fault."</p><p>"That's ridiculous. It's Azula's fault."</p><p>"I should have stayed hidden. You were perfectly positioned to absorb her lightning attack and channel it back to her. You would have won. Instead, I showed her your weak spot—me—and she shifted her attack. I can't believe you jumped in front of lightning to save me."</p><p>"Does that mean I've finally earned your trust?" Zuko smirked, almost teasing her about how skeptical she'd been of his reformation.</p><p>"Yes." She replied shortly. "Thank you for saving my life." She paused. "Tonight, and back at the Western Air Temple. I never thanked you for that."</p><p>"I'd forgotten about that. It doesn't matter. You repaid me tonight. You saved both my life and my sister's."</p><p>"I really don't want to take credit for saving her."</p><p>"I came here prepared to kill my own sister. I was sure that would be the only choice possible because I knew she would never give up. But thanks to you, I didn't have to. You figured out a way to restrain her and spare her life. We had so many fights with Aang about how he needed to be ready to kill my father to defend himself and the world. But I think some of his arguments got through to me. I don't know what it would have done to me if I had had to kill her in the end."</p><p>"I just feel lucky there were reflecting pools and sewers around. Without a lot of water to bend I would have been lost. If the chains hadn't worked, I might have tried to drown her. Or waterboard her. Not so much to torture her as to subdue her. But it still would have been torture. I don't know how that would have changed me either." Katara shuddered.</p><p>"If the chains hadn't worked, those would have been about your only options, since I was out of commission." His tone was matter-of-fact, absolving her of any guilt for contemplating such techniques, accepting their necessity as a last resort. He put his hand on top of hers. "I'm really glad you came with me."</p><p>She gave him a small smile. "Me too." Then she looked down at their hands and pulled hers out.</p><p>"But you're still worried about Aang." He could read her mind so easily.</p><p>"Aren't you?"</p><p>"You were pretty confident about him on the way over here."</p><p>She let out a shaky breath. "I think I was just putting that on to psych myself up to face Azula. Now I wish I were back there." She looked out the window, as if she'd be able to see news of Aang in the sky.</p><p>"Hey. Look at me." Katara met Zuko's earnest eyes. "Here was where you needed to be today. Not just to save my hide, but strategically, considering everyone involved. If you were my weak spot, how much more would you have been Aang's? I wanted you far away from that fight. If my father threatened you for an instant, Aang would have sacrificed himself without hesitation. And we can't afford to lose him."</p><p>She nodded thoughtfully, then agreed in a resolved voice. "No. We can't."</p><p>"Before we got on Appa and flew here, my uncle and I had a long talk. We wanted to consider every possibility and be prepared. So you should know, there is a plan for in case Aang fails, or just stays disappeared. I'm going to meet with the generals first thing tomorrow and try to get them on my side, so that if my father tries to attack us here, we won't be defenseless." Katara's face looked shocked, almost betrayed. "Don't look at me like that. I still have faith in Aang. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. I am willing to die for his cause, but I refuse to give up without a fight." He saw her features harden, and knew she shared his resolve. "Maybe you can sleep easier tonight knowing I haven't taken you into enemy territory without a plan to get you out safely."</p><p>"It's not my safety I'm worried about."</p><p>"I know. Look, the comet has passed, so that means the outcome has already been determined. We just don't know it yet."</p><p>"Is that supposed to help?"</p><p>"Nothing will help but news, and news won't come for hours or days. Best way for you to pass the time is sleep. I'll need you well rested to heal this some more tomorrow." He pointed to his wound.</p><p>"You're right. And you need sleep to heal. Doctor's orders."</p><p>Zuko settled in bed and closed his eyes. "Will you send the messenger hawks?" he murmured.</p><p>"Of course."</p><p>As soon as she shut the door to Zuko's room, Katara asked a servant for two messenger hawks and writing materials. She sent identical letters to Sokka and Iroh:</p><p>We defeated Azula. Zuko was injured but will recover fully. Azula lives, but has possibly lost her mind. Please send word of Aang and Ba Sing Se as soon as possible.</p><p>Katara</p><p>When the hawks were in the air, Katara found an empty bed in a nearby room, one that probably belonged to a servant, judging from its size and plain sheets. To her at that moment, it was the most luxurious comfort imaginable. She fell into bed and slept over twelve hours.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Meeting with the Generals</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: Sorry, no romance in this chapter. This is all Zuko, showing his political genius and his readiness to become Fire Lord.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Five</p>
<p>Zuko woke with the sunrise and thought first of Iroh's plan. Lying in bed, gathering his strength and nerve, he remembered his conversation with his uncle in the lighted tent, trying to recall each detail of their plan.</p>
<p>Iroh had begun, "Our strategic challenge is coordination, since all of these battles will be happening at the same time, in different parts of the world, with no way to communicate their results quickly to each other. Aang is not here. We all hope that he will be there when the comet streaks across the sky, but there is no guarantee. We need to consider contingency plans."</p>
<p>"You're right, Uncle." Zuko was grateful to have Iroh bring up the issue. He'd felt unable to discuss it with Katara and Sokka, but all of their lives depended on it.</p>
<p>"What will be your father's next move if Aang never comes, and he wipes out the Earth Kingdom?"</p>
<p>"I suppose he will return to the Fire Nation to celebrate his victory and plan his next campaign."</p>
<p>"I agree. And what would be his next move if he were to defeat Aang?"</p>
<p>"He'd want to kill the next Avatar as a baby. He'd wipe out the Water Tribes. Just like Sozin did to the Air Nomads." Zuko had felt sick at the thought.</p>
<p>"Yes. He would follow the example of our grandfather and commit another genocide. That plan would also require a stop in the Fire Nation to gather resources. So, after you triumph against Azula—"</p>
<p>"I'll need to be prepared to fight my father in case he returns to the Fire Nation."</p>
<p>"And in order to do that, you'll need to convince the generals and leaders to change their allegiance from your father, who they have served faithfully for a decade, to you, an accused traitor, in a day or less."</p>
<p>Zuko had dropped his head in his hands at the thought. Iroh patted his shoulder in sympathy. "Any new Fire Lord must have the support of the military and the nobility. You would have more time to win them over if all three of these battles weren't happening simultaneously." From there they had begun discussing the various arguments he might use to convince the military leaders to join him.</p>
<p>He'd lingered in bed long enough; it was no longer too early to demand a meeting. He sent for the captain of the palace guard and the highest-ranking general who remained in the capital. Iroh had named Captain Chen as a likely supporter, someone who had been friends with his uncle before and after he'd given up his first siege of Ba Sing Se, but neither of them knew which general might have been left behind to defend the homeland during his father's attack. Zuko dressed in the fanciest, most official-looking clothes he could find in his old closet and went to the throne room to receive the military leaders, walking slowly to avoid aggravating his wound or limping noticeably.</p>
<p>Once Captain Chen of the Palace Guard and General Mak stood before him in the throne room, Zuko asserted his authority in his strongest voice.</p>
<p>"I am Fire Lord. My father renounced his title and called himself the Phoenix King. He abandoned the Fire Nation to glorify himself through pointless destruction. I defeated my younger sister Azula in Agni Kai. You can see her condition. She is mad and not fit to rule. I am the only remaining member of the royal family who can unify our country and govern it with fairness and justice. Will you pledge your loyalty to me and renew your vows to defend your country against any attackers?"</p>
<p>The leaders shifted uncomfortably. Zuko allowed the silence to stretch on. It stretched on and on, to the point where the silence itself was almost insubordination, and he had to address it as such. But carefully.</p>
<p>"I plan to be a generous and fair Fire Lord, one who collaborates with subordinates and welcomes honest criticism, for the sake of creating the best, most well-informed policies for the nation. What questions do you have for me about my claim to the throne?"</p>
<p>"Your Agni Kai battle with Princess Azula was not carried out properly, Prince Zuko. You did not defeat her; your friend the Water Tribe girl did." Zuko noted that General Mak used his old title, rather than the one he now claimed. Not a good sign.</p>
<p>Captain Chen objected. "I would argue that Princess Azula first broke the rules of Agni Kai when she targeted a bystander, rather than her opponent."</p>
<p>"Agreed. But that rule violation does not constitute forfeiture. Prince Zuko was incapacitated before Princess Azula was."</p>
<p>"Perhaps," allowed Chen. "I would call for a rematch, except that Azula is clearly not capable of fighting now. Nor is she capable of ruling. Honestly, her behavior has been erratic for several weeks now, since her trip to the Boiling Rock, according to my friends among the personal guards and servants of the royal family. She cannot serve as Fire Lord."</p>
<p>"No, she cannot." The General sighed assent. "That means our alternative is to wait for the return of Fire Lord Ozai, not to appoint a new leader, especially one who has been branded a traitor."</p>
<p>"My father is no longer Fire Lord." Zuko repeated. "He abdicated the throne in favor of my sister, who we agree cannot rule. He left this country to attack the Earth Kingdom. I believe that he has been intercepted and defeated by the Avatar. I expect word of his demise any moment." The captain and general glanced at each other; this appeared to be news to them. "My father called me a traitor, but my actions did no harm to the Fire Nation. I left and joined the Avatar, who is not an enemy of the Fire Nation itself, but of violence and war. He is an enemy to my father only in so far as my father chose to sow destruction and tyrannize innocent people. But the Avatar is a friend to the people of the Fire Nation and is committed to supporting their peaceful coexistence with all other countries. My decision to join the Avatar was based on my belief that my father, and his father and grandfather before him, betrayed the peaceful principles of the Fire Nation when they began to pursue world domination. I chose to fight for my country to return to its rightful place alongside the other countries of the world; my father and forefathers were the traitors."</p>
<p>It was a fairly radical argument, and he wasn't sure it convinced the general of his innocence. He changed tactics.</p>
<p>"You both know that my father was a terrible parent to me. You were there when he challenged me, at thirteen, to Agni Kai, and gave me this scar. I imagine he was not an easy man to serve, was he, General?"</p>
<p>"It is not my place to complain about the orders of the Fire Lord." The General stubbornly kept his eyes focused behind Zuko's shoulder at the giant Fire Nation flag.</p>
<p>"As a son and prince, I was taught the same. Keep your mouth shut, follow orders, and be grateful not to get beaten for the slightest mistake. Such lessons didn't keep me from thinking for myself. I'm sure you also have thoughts and opinions that might have been dangerous to voice to my father. As Fire Lord, I will actively seek your input and guidance. I will not publicly berate, dishonor, or abuse subordinates who disagree with me. Tell me, what are some changes you would like to see in the Fire Nation, or in your army, that my father would never have approved?"</p>
<p>It was the riskiest moment of the meeting, the one he'd been least sure about. "Bribe them?" he'd asked Iroh incredulously. "Allow them to name their own price? Doesn't that show weakness?" "Your best hope is for these men to see your reign as advantageous to them and their careers." Iroh had answered stoutly. "If they simply refuse to negotiate, though, you are lost."</p>
<p>The general narrowed his eyes at Zuko, as if he were trying to figure him out. There was a long pause as he considered the younger man. Zuko held eye contact, his body tense. "Leave time for my men." Mak's tone was suspicious, as if he were testing Zuko.</p>
<p>"How much?" Zuko answered quickly.</p>
<p>"A month of each year free from service to spend with family."</p>
<p>"Granted. I'd be willing to grant two months if my economic advisors deem it feasible. What else, General?"</p>
<p>Mak still looked skeptical. "Limits on length of placements in faraway colonies. Soldiers are given no choice but to spend decades far from their families, with no visits home."</p>
<p>"Agreed. Soldiers will be stationed no longer than two years away from home, unless they choose, and will have a month's leave for yearly visits." Zuko liked this idea. It worked perfectly with his intention to liberate the colonies. "What else, General?"</p>
<p>"Medical care and pensions for soldiers and retired soldiers."</p>
<p>"Granted. It's an outrage that the Fire Nation has not already provided its most loyal fighters with such necessary benefits. What else, General?"</p>
<p>"Improvements in the quality of food provided for the troops."</p>
<p>"Of course. Again, my father's neglect of the health and wellbeing of our army is shocking. I'll need to discuss the details of this plan with my economic and agricultural advisors, but I'm committed to making the improvements you so reasonably ask for. What else, General?"</p>
<p>The general seemed dumbfounded to have gotten so many requests granted so easily. "I have no further requests at this time, my lord."</p>
<p>Zuko smiled. He used the title. The General was his to command. And all it took was granting humane conditions to hardworking soldiers. That said a lot more about what a terrible leader his father had been than about his own persuasive skills.</p>
<p>"Please let me know if there is ever another way that I can better support you and your men. I'm sure your expertise will be invaluable to me in future councils. I'd like to ask you again, will you pledge your loyalty to me and vow to defend the Fire Nation against any attackers?"</p>
<p>"Including your father?"</p>
<p>"Again, I believe he has fallen to the Avatar. But if he somehow survived, then I will challenge him to Agni Kai for the throne." Zuko called on his best acting skills to make his voice sound calm and detached as he proposed a repeat of the most traumatic event of his life. "I may need the support of your soldiers to deliver the challenge itself and to accompany my father and his men to the arena safely. The throne will go to the winner; the loser will die in battle or be executed or imprisoned, at the discretion of the winner. Your soldiers will not be at risk, and you will not have to choose which Fire Lord to serve. If we both die, I suggest my uncle Iroh, or perhaps his cousin Uzeemi, as the next Fire Lord. But at that point I would be beyond caring. Except for one request. If I fall in Agni Kai against my father, I ask that one or both of you personally protect Katara of the Southern Water Tribe and safely deliver her back to her people, or wherever she wishes to go. Does this plan sound fair and just?"</p>
<p>Both men nodded solemnly. His willingness to die for the throne seemed to have gained him some respect.</p>
<p>"I have one other concern. The generals who accompanied my father to the Earth Kingdom may not accept his defeat or my legitimacy, whether he is already dead, or if I defeat him in Agni Kai. In the case that they decide to attack their own country to usurp me, can I count on your support?"</p>
<p>"If I am to order my men to defend against soldiers of their own country, their brothers in arms, they will require additional pay." The General stipulated.</p>
<p>"Agreed. In the event of such a battle, soldiers loyal to me, and their commanders, will earn triple their regular pay, and triple benefits paid to families of those who fall in battle." Zuko had no idea whether the royal treasury could afford that, but that would be the least of his worries if he had to defend his throne against an invading army of his own countrymen.</p>
<p>"Very well, my lord." General Mak nodded.</p>
<p>Captain Chen spoke up. "Your claim to the throne is strong, my lord, stronger than your sister's. The only person whose claim might be stronger than your own is your uncle, the former General Iroh."</p>
<p>Zuko grinned. "I agree with you. Before I came here, I was with my uncle outside Ba Sing Se. He was preparing to attack the Earth Kingdom capital with his brothers from the Order of the White Lotus, to liberate the city from the Dai Li. I expect word of his victory any moment. He sent me here with this letter." He passed the letter to Chen, who read it aloud for the benefit of General Mak.</p>
<p>"To Whom It May Concern:</p>
<p>I, General Iroh, hereby abdicate any claim I may have to the throne of the Fire Nation, in favor of my nephew, Prince Zuko. I pledge to Fire Lord Zuko my own fealty and call on all loyal citizens of the Fire Nation to support and defend him against all usurpers and attackers."</p>
<p>"Very well, Fire Lord Zuko," Captain Chen. "My men and I will support your claim to the throne, pending Agni Kai."</p>
<p>"Please notify us as soon as possible if you hear word of your father or uncle, Fire Lord Zuko." General Mak's voice was pointed, his doubt clear.</p>
<p>"I will. Thank you, General, Captain. I look forward to working with both of you, for the benefit of the Fire Nation."</p>
<p>They saluted and left the room. Zuko took a deep breath and slouched down in the throne, his tension dissipating. He had done it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Back in his room, Zuko asked about Azula. Guards told him that she was still chained in the courtyard. She had passed out after hours of screaming and straining at her chains. Everyone was afraid to approach her. Zuko began to puzzle over how to transport her to a more appropriate location. Thinking about a prison for his sister reminded him to give orders to free Mai and Ty Lee and the prisoners from the battle of the eclipse and invite them all to the capital.</p>
<p>He had just finished writing the orders when Katara came in, rubbing her eyes, fresh from sleep. He told her about his success with the general and captain while she checked on his wounds, but instead of his good mood rubbing off on her, Katara's tension dampened Zuko's ebullience. He ordered them some food and they ate silently. They were both on edge, thinking of their loved ones fighting far away. Katara told him about the messages she'd sent and he nodded approval. Then she got a basin of water, and he took off his shirt and bandages so she could work some more on healing his burn. They both concentrated in near silence on the movements of the glowing water over his chest, the feeling of the flesh mending and sealing over. They agreed that the injury seemed to be healing well, for as fresh as it was. While Katara bound the bandages again, Zuko brought up Azula, and together they made a plan to take her to the prison where Iroh had been held so recently. It was something to do; it would take their minds off their worries. They would both accompany the guards who would hold Azula's chains. Katara would keep the princess submerged in water so that she couldn't use her fire bending or lightning attacks. Zuko would stand ready to fight her in case she came loose.</p>
<p>During the transport, Azula showered them both with the dirtiest insults she could imagine, and she was quite an imaginative person. "How do you feel taking the Avatar's sloppy seconds, brother?" she sniped at him. "Or do you share her, the three of you together?" Zuko and Katara refused to look at her, or each other, ignoring her as best they could, and they'd instructed the guards to do the same. Their expressions stayed hard and neutral, but they could not control their reddening cheeks. "Does she do water tricks in bed? How do you think Mai would feel, knowing you dumped her for a dirty, brown-skinned, gold-digging Southern whore? Stay with her, and we'll have a mixed bastard for a prince. Not yours, of course, you're not man enough. She'll cuckold you with the Avatar, or that brother of hers, and put a dusky, inbred water bender on the Throne of Fire after she drowns you in your sleep. Just wait til Father gets back! He'll burn you both alive! I am Fire Lord!"</p>
<p>"Douse her." Zuko uttered, unable to take it any longer, or to think of another way to silence his vulgar sister.</p>
<p>Katara quickly glanced at his set jaw, surprised at this deviation from their plan. She pulled the water over Azula's head for an instant, and then began shooting water directly into her face intermittently, so that her speech became difficult and harder to understand. Now they mostly just heard incoherent shrieks of fury, interrupted occasionally by gargling and spitting.</p>
<p>Once Azula was safely behind bars, they both breathed a sigh of relief. But they could barely meet each other's eyes.</p>
<p>"I'm so sorry," Zuko began. "I must apologize to you for her insults. You shouldn't have had to listen to that. No one deserves that kind of talk, least of all you. I wish I'd asked you to stop her sooner."</p>
<p>"Thanks for saying that, but it's not your fault. I'm sorry for you too," Katara replied. "Seeing your sister like that can't have been easy for you." The level of abuse and dysfunction in the ruling family of the Fire Nation had shocked her before, but now that she counted Zuko as a friend, it grieved her, and helped her empathize as she had never imagined she could, with the misguided boy who had pursued them for months. She wished she could heal his heart and mind as easily as she could his body.</p>
<p>"No. Seeing someone so strong brought so low by the dissolution of her own mind—it's unnerving." He stared off into the distance, sniffed and blinked rapidly. "When Azula asked me to join her in Ba Sing Se, I thought it was because she actually cared about me. She offered me everything I'd been searching for for three years: my father's approval, what he always taught me was honor and patriotism. But then I found out I was just part of her plan to secure power for herself. What she is—our father made her."</p>
<p>They walked slowly and silently back to their rooms. Katara said something about checking on Appa. Zuko shut himself in and took a long nap. When he woke, it was just in time for dinner. He was getting dressed when Mai walked in.</p>
<p>The next morning, two messenger hawks arrived.</p>
<p>The first message was addressed to Zuko.</p>
<p>Dear nephew,</p>
<p>I have fulfilled my destiny. The Order of the White Lotus holds Ba Sing Se. I am leaving the city in the hands of my brothers and coming to you. I pray for word of your victory to reach us soon.</p>
<p>Zuko showed it to Katara, his relief at his uncle's triumph clear.</p>
<p>Katara began to read the second message aloud.</p>
<p>Katara and Zuko,</p>
<p>Aang defeated Ozai! Aang was able to take away his firebending and spare his life. Aang is fine, just exhausted. Toph, Suki and I are ok, but I broke my leg taking down the airships. Were you able to defeat Azula? Send us a message as soon as you can. We are on our way to you and hope you are well.</p>
<p>Your brother,</p>
<p>Sokka</p>
<p>"It's the best possible news," Katara found herself on the floor, unable to finish reading. "So why am I shaking and crying?"</p>
<p>Zuko took the message from her hand and read the rest himself. He was touched by Sokka's signature—it was ambiguous, but the boy seemed to have named himself Zuko's brother as well as Katara's. He put his arm around her shoulders for comfort. It was a brotherly gesture, one he felt Sokka had just sanctioned. He almost felt he'd lost a sister and gained one at the same time.</p>
<p>"Because you've been on edge for a year worrying the world was about to end, and now, suddenly, everything is fine. Better than fine."</p>
<p>"The hawks I sent them must have gotten crossed, or lost. They don't seem to know that we're ok." Katara was dismayed at the thought of their friends being worried about them.</p>
<p>"They'll probably receive them today." Zuko reassured her. "Our messenger hawks are relentlessly accurate."</p>
<p>Sitting there quietly with Karara, Zuko quickly calculated how this news affected his and Iroh's plan. Ozai's survival did not change or weaken Zuko's position in the least. In the history of the Fire Nation, there had never been a Fire Lord who was not a bender. Losing his power would disqualify Ozai and leave Zuko with the best claim. The general and captain had agreed to support Zuko pending Agni Kai, but Agni Kai could only take place between two benders or two non-benders. Zuko could no longer challenge his father, because his victory was presumed. Sharing the news with the military leaders as quickly as possible would prove to them that he was trustworthy and honest. He called a servant and asked him to take the letters to Captain Chen and General Mak.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapter: The whole Gaang reunites in the Fire Nation palace</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter Seven: Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Seven: Reunion</p>
<p>After another visit to Appa to check on his feed and share the news, Katara spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in a room with a window that faced the harbor in the east. She watched the ships come in and go out, watched the people walking the palace grounds, watched the birds in the sky. The hours went by, servants came and went, leaving trays of food and carrying them away untouched.</p>
<p>Aang was on his way to her. Would he greet her immediately with a kiss and expect to begin a relationship, since the excuse she'd given, the war, was now gone? The thought made her more anxious than happy. She was afraid if he kissed her, she wouldn't feel anything, not because she didn't love him, but because there was something wrong with her. Because the war had broken her in some way and made her incapable of feeling desire. If he did kiss her, she would probably go along with it, and hope her heart would warm eventually, but what if it didn't? He would notice, and it would hurt him far worse than her rejection on the playhouse balcony.</p>
<p>For so long she had been so preoccupied with immediate survival that she hadn't allowed herself to imagine any future beyond the comet, much less adulthood. As she sat by the window, she tried for the first time in what felt like forever to think of the years to come, only concluding that any future without Aang as the most important person in her life was nearly unthinkable. But for that future to begin now felt too soon. Would peace mean they would finally have the time and freedom and safety to reclaim what was left of their childhood, or would it mean instant adulthood and expectations of leadership and responsibility?</p>
<p>Hearing that he had defeated Ozai without killing him increased Katara's admiration for Aang and gave her a sense of her own unworthiness. She remembered him pleading with her to forgive her mother's murderer, and she had just blown him off and flown away with Zuko. She had come so close to killing that pathetic old man, and a part of her had enjoyed having him under her power, while Aang was so thoroughly good he would not even hurt someone as dangerous as Ozai to secure world peace. She felt ashamed now of the way she had argued for him to compromise his values to rid the world of Ozai's threat.</p>
<p>Most of her hesitations seemed to come from insecurities she was probably blowing out of proportion, or even imagining, but there was one concrete thing based on actual experience that did make her nervous about dating her best friend. Aang had a tendency to fly off without a word whenever things got tough. What if he left her someday and never came back? What if he came back totally different? If their differences became too great, would they be able to remain friends? Would beginning a relationship mean risking their friendship?</p>
<p>One of the birds was getting bigger. As she focused on it, she saw that it wasn't moving exactly like a bird—there was no flapping. She stood and continued looking, afraid to hope. When she saw the unmistakable shape of Aang on his flyer, she ran to the closest balcony, where she called out and waved her arms to catch his attention.</p>
<p>Aang changed direction toward her and descended. As soon as his feet touched the ground, her arms were around his neck. She felt him laugh and his arms wrapped around her back as well. He was solid and real and she could feel him breathe. They stood there just hugging a long time, until Appa stuck his huge head over the side of the balcony and began sniffing Aang's back. He pulled away from Katara, laughed, and hugged Appa's nose.</p>
<p>Katara gave them a moment, the boy and his sky bison. She realized her cheeks were wet and wiped them off. As great as that hug had been, she wasn't quite sure she was ready to have a long talk alone with Aang, so she made a suggestion. "Would you like to see Zuko?"</p>
<p>"Of course. How is he?"</p>
<p>"Almost as good as new." Their hands came together naturally as they went down the hall to Zuko's room.</p>
<p>Zuko must have seen Aang landing as well and come to meet him; they met in a hallway. Zuko bowed deeply and said formally, "Avatar Aang, congratulations on your victory. Thank you for sparing my father's life. He did not deserve your mercy."</p>
<p>Aang returned Zuko's bow, matching his formality. "It wasn't about what he deserved, but about who I am. Congratulations on your own victory, Fire Lord Zuko."</p>
<p>"I have Katara to thank for that."</p>
<p>Katara blushed modestly under glowing smiles from both boys. "That's giving me too much credit."</p>
<p>"Is my uncle coming?" Zuko's eagerness to see Iroh could not be contained.</p>
<p>"He's on the airship. It's close. I just flew ahead. I couldn't wait to see you." Aang finished looking at Katara, and they smiled at each other.</p>
<p>"Do you know where they were planning to land?" Zuko asked anxiously.</p>
<p>"Iroh said something about a grand pavilion on the palace grounds."</p>
<p>"Good. I don't want them going through the city. I should have known Uncle would read my mind. Shall we go down and meet them?" Zuko suggested.</p>
<p>On their way through the palace, Zuko gave orders for a big dinner for his guests. "The best the palace kitchens can offer! With some vegetarian dishes! And the finest tea for my uncle! There you are, Mai! Come with us; Uncle's here!"</p>
<p>When they got to the pavilion, they could see the airship as it began its descent. After it came down and finally unloaded its passengers, there was a chaos of hugs. Katara rushed to Sokka and might have knocked him down if Suki hadn't been bracing him. Iroh and Zuko just held each others' shoulders, their foreheads pressed together and tears streaming down both their cheeks. Toph found Aang and made a wisecrack. Katara heard it and seized the smaller girl. When Iroh and Zuko finally broke apart, Katara wanted to shake the old man's hand, and Zuko found Sokka for a brotherly hug. Eventually Zuko got everyone's attention and told them he'd ordered dinner. They all followed him into the palace in a merry crowd.</p>
<p>One person had hung back from the joyful greetings: Mai. She seemed not to know her role in this unusual and diverse group. When they got to the dining room, Suki noticed Mai lingering by the door and confronted her uncomfortably. The two skilled fighters stared each other down for a minute. Finally, Suki said, "Let's call it even. You defeated and imprisoned me, stole my clothes and impersonated me. But then you helped me, and my boyfriend, and your boyfriend escape from the Boiling Rock, and you got imprisoned yourself for it. Zuko made up for his mistakes and earned his place on our team, and so have you." She solemnly put out her hand. With great relief, Mai shook it.</p>
<p>They all took their seats, gravitating toward those they wanted to be with the most. On one side of the table sat Mai, Zuko, Iroh, and Toph, and on the other, Suki, Sokka, Katara, and Aang. Everyone was starving. There hadn't been much to eat on the airship, certainly nothing hot; Katara had forgotten to eat while waiting, and Zuko had spent the day in meetings with advisors and party planners, without even a snack break. Servants brought dishes, plates, and glasses, and everyone found something that seemed to have been made exactly for them.</p>
<p>"Aang, Katara and I still haven't heard how you defeated my father." Zuko said once everyone had eaten enough to blunt their hunger.</p>
<p>"Or where you went when you ran away," Katara chided him.</p>
<p>Aang began his story with swimming to the mysterious island, his meditations with the past Avatars, the revelation from the lion turtle, and then gave an exciting play-by-play account of his encounter with Ozai. Katara flinched with each blow he recounted, and teared up when he spoke of putting out the fires and restoring the land after the battle was over.</p>
<p>Zuko raised his glass, "To the Avatar!" Everyone cheered and shared the toast.</p>
<p>"Now I want to hear how my nephew defeated his sister and took the crown," Iroh's voice was jolly and full of pride.</p>
<p>Zuko told the story. When he told how Azula had shifted her target to Katara, Aang reached over and grabbed Katara's hand under the table. She looked over at him. His face was pale, eyes wide and unblinking, focused on Zuko, as he heard what danger Katara had been in. When he finished, Aang said in a strangled voice, "Thank you for saving Katara."</p>
<p>"I've already thanked him. And apologized for making myself a target." Katara said ruefully.</p>
<p>Zuko waved that away. "For Azula, your existence made you a target. Katara saved herself and me. Her waterbending was the perfect way to restrain Azula. And then she healed my burn."</p>
<p>Iroh toasted, "To Fire Lord Zuko and Katara the Water Bender!"</p>
<p>Aang and Katara's hands broke apart to lift their glasses.</p>
<p>"Now I want to hear how my uncle fulfilled his destiny and conquered Ba Sing Se!" Zuko touched Iroh's shoulder. Iroh recounted the story, telling how all of the different talents of the Brothers of the White Lotus had combined to liberate the Earth Kingdom capital from its Fire Nation oppressors and their collaborators, the Dai Li.</p>
<p>"I haven't heard yet how you broke your leg," Katara said to Sokka, "Or what happened when you tried to go after Ozai on the air ships."</p>
<p>With great relish, Sokka told every detail of his assault on the Fire Nation airships. Toph and Suki chimed in as well.</p>
<p>"It feels like everything we've been working for, for a year, or longer, is accomplished. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now." Katara said wonderingly after the story was finished and they were all caught up on each other's adventures.</p>
<p>"Well, first we will have a coronation!" Iroh called out, clapping Zuko on the back.</p>
<p>"Yes, I would like to invite all of you to my coronation. It's only in two days. I wanted to wait until you were all here, and until the prisoners from the battle of the eclipse have been released and can make it here to join us. I want all four nations represented. And I would like you to be up on the stage with me, Aang."</p>
<p>"It would be an honor," Aang replied graciously.</p>
<p>"And after the coronation, I would like all of you to join me at the reopening of my tea shop in Ba Sing Se." Iroh added. There were happy nods and excited smiles around the table.</p>
<p>Sokka began, "I have an idea I started tossing around on the ship on the way here. We all want to go home, so let's all go home, together! The Avatar Victory Tour! We'll travel around to all the places we visited in the past year, and spread the word of Aang's amazing victory!"</p>
<p>"I like that idea," said Katara. "But I do want to see Gran Gran."</p>
<p>"First stop on the tour." Sokka said. "We're going to recreate our travels, in order, so we'll start at the South Pole."</p>
<p>"I wish I could come. It sounds like fun." Zuko said. "But my situation here is kind of a mess." He explained the current political atmosphere of the Fire Nation, which was contentious, to say the least. His father had been worshipped as a god by his people, and Azula had been beloved as his chosen successor, while Zuko had been tarred a traitor. Now, he was seen as a usurper by many, and there were even rumors of a popular rebellion brewing. "I'll send key leaders to visit Azula and my father in prison, to prove to them that they're in no fit state to rule, and having Uncle here for my coronation should help at least with challenges to my legitimacy. But thanks to my father and grandfather and great grandfather, and their hateful ideas, there is a significant minority here who honestly believe that the people of the Fire Nation are superior to all other people in the world, and deserve to rule it, and to kill any unworthy dog who stands in our way. I have to change our whole culture to root out that kind of hate."</p>
<p>His language shocked and sickened the group. There was a moment of stunned silence.</p>
<p>"Should we stay here to help you?" Aang asked, concerned.</p>
<p>"No, but thank you," Zuko replied graciously. "This is a Fire Nation problem. We made it and we have to fix it ourselves." Then he began describing the Fire Nation he wanted to build with his larger and more radical political program—a country built on peace and trade instead of war and domination, integrated with the rest of the world rather than conquering and exploiting weaker people. He wanted to grant freedom to the colonies, convert warships to merchant ships, dismantle weapons, drastically downsize the army, and exchange technologies and talents with other countries. He told the others about his idea for what he was calling a reparations tour. "I want to go to all of the places where the Fire Nation has harmed people in the last century, and offer my apologies, and ask the local communities how we can begin to repair the damage we caused."</p>
<p>Iroh's eyes were shining with pride. "If you can do this, nephew, you will truly be the greatest Fire Lord in history."</p>
<p>"Maybe if I'm lucky, by the time you all finish your victory tour, I'll be ready for my reparations tour, and I can invite all of you along. Having the Avatar, and his friends from all around the world, at my side would probably make it easier for the people we visit to believe I'm sincere."</p>
<p>"Sounds like fun," Aang echoed. "Helping the Fire Nation transition to a peaceful way of life and improve its relations with other countries is exactly the kind of job the Avatar was meant to do."</p>
<p>"Ba Sing Se has its own problems," Iroh began. "For decades the war was hidden from the people so that they could live in peaceful oblivion. The Order of the White Lotus captured many of the Dai Li, but many more are in hiding. The Earth Kingdom needs a completely new government, and a public education campaign to teach them about all of the world events that were hidden from them by the Dai Li. My brothers and I will help the Earth Kingdom reorganize itself and get back on its feet. I hope my tea shop can become a place for people from around the world to gather and exchange ideas." He turned to his nephew. "I'm an old man and it's late. You young people can stay up and talk but I must sleep."</p>
<p>There was a murmur around the table, everyone expressing their own exhaustion. It had been a long day-week-year. They stood up and moved toward the door.</p>
<p>Zuko called a servant over and asked her to show the guests to their rooms.</p>
<p>Sokka whispered to Zuko, "If there aren't enough rooms I can always share with Suki."</p>
<p>"It's a palace. There are plenty of rooms. But you two are next door." Zuko winked at him.</p>
<p>The servant led them down a hallway, pointing each person to a room as they passed each door. Katara and Aang were the last on the end of the hall. The servant bowed and left them.</p>
<p>"Your story was so amazing. I wish I'd seen your battle with Ozai—but at the same time, I'm glad I didn't because it might have given me a heart attack! Does that make any sense?"</p>
<p>Aang laughed. "That's exactly how I felt hearing about your fight with Azula. But I do wish I'd been here, because I know I could have taken her."</p>
<p>"Obviously! If only you could have been in two places at once," Katara joked.</p>
<p>"Hey, I can bend four elements, why not space and time too?"</p>
<p>"Even the Avatar has some limits. You don't have to do everything because you have friends to help."</p>
<p>"You're right. I have the greatest friends."</p>
<p>"Everything turned out the way it was supposed to."</p>
<p>They stepped closer and fell into a hug, moving almost simultaneously. Katara cradled his head and neck in her hand, pressing his soft cheek against hers, her lips at his ear. "I always knew you could save the world," she whispered.</p>
<p>He pulled away to look into her eyes, their hands joined. "Thank you for believing in me."</p>
<p>"Thank you for…showing me the world. If it weren't for you, I'd still be stuck in my village, without any way to develop my water bending. This year I got to see so many places and meet so many people…"</p>
<p>"And it's not over yet!" He grinned at her.</p>
<p>"That's the best part." She squeezed his hands and turned toward her door. "Good night, Aang."</p>
<p>Author's note: Please leave me a review!</p>
<p>Next chapter: Aang and Katara spend a quiet morning together, and coronation preparations.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter Eight: Aang and Katara, and Coronation Practice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 8: Aang and Katara, and Coronation Practice</p>
<p>Aang shut his door and leaned on it. He touched his cheek, which had just pressed against Katara's, his ear where she had reminded him of her constant faith in him. He felt on fire, he felt jubilant. The way she had just held his face, he had never felt so cherished. If he could have a hug like that with Katara every day, it would be all he would ever need to be happy for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>But he couldn't get ahead of himself. As thrilling as those moments in Katara's arms had been, as encouraging as her words may have seemed, paradoxically they also convinced him more than ever that he had made the right choice, that Sokka's advice was right. He was sure that perfect moment had only happened because he had not tried to make it happen. He knew he had to stick to his plan to let her make the next move, even with the war over. Being so close to her made it hard to resist, but surely it would be wrong of him to take such a liberty as to kiss her, especially after what happened that last time. He rehashed everything she had said again and again, trying to discern what kind of feeling lay behind her words, but couldn't come to a clear conclusion.</p>
<p>He sat down to meditate, to ask the former Avatars for guidance, wondering for a moment what a different, and happier, problem this was than the last one he'd had. His breath deepened, as he descended into the Avatar state. It was even easier than the last time. He chose Roku to consult, knowing that he had been happily married and might have insights into relationships.</p>
<p>He explained to Roku all of his feelings for Katara, the guru's insistence that he let her go, the confrontation at the play, and Sokka's advice to wait for a sign from her.</p>
<p>"You are discovering the difference between selfless love and selfish desire. When you pushed Katara to define her feelings for you at the play, you were acting in selfish desire. You felt insecure, and put your desire for reassurance above her comfort. Now you have resolved to act with selfless love, and wait for her to give you some sign of how she feels about you. It is a good resolution, but one that may be difficult to keep, especially as more time goes by."</p>
<p>"So if I'm supposed to stop pressuring her, does that mean no more hugs, holding hands, compliments, gifts, one-on-one bending practice?" The idea of losing these small moments of connection with Katara was somewhat distressing. "There are lots of things that we've always done that might be seen as romantic, and I'm afraid if I suddenly stop, then she might think I'm mad at her or something."</p>
<p>"The context has changed, though, so that some of these gestures may feel differently to her now than they once did. Take care, but don't agonize or overthink it. There is no need to act unnaturally or go out of your way to avoid these situations. As long as your action proceeds from friendship and selfless love, she will feel free to come to an understanding of her feelings on her own timeline."</p>
<p>"How will I know if she's giving me a sign or just being nice? Like that hug tonight, was that it?"</p>
<p>"If you are not sure, err on the side of caution. Wait for a sign that is unambiguous. Remember, you are young, and there is no longer any time constraint to worry about. No looming battle or separation."</p>
<p>That was a good, clear, reassuring answer. He thanked Roku and transitioned out of his deep meditation. Exhausted, he lay down in the bed.</p>
<p>He knew that he and Katara would have plenty of time to spend together now. They had a plan to travel together with their friends, with no war hanging over their heads. He remembered Sokka's other piece of advice, to just have fun with Katara. He thought he could do that without putting any kind of pressure on her. He fell asleep wondering if there would be dancing at the coronation.</p>
<p>The next morning there was a slip of paper under his door. There were directions to a breakfast room, a bath house, a seamstress, and a request from Zuko for him to attend a meeting in the afternoon.</p>
<p>His stomach rumbled. Breakfast sounded perfect.</p>
<p>When he arrived in the breakfast room, Sokka, Suki, and Katara were already there. While he was putting some rolls and fruit on his plate, Toph walked in. They all chattered about the things they might have to do to get ready for the coronation—especially their clothes. Suki doubted the royal seamstress would have the right materials to recreate a Kyoshi warrior uniform. Katara and Toph were making plans to rejuvenate themselves at the royal spa on the morning of the coronation. Zuko, Iroh, and Mai never joined them; they must have eaten earlier or somewhere else in the palace. Aang could certainly imagine they might be busy with ceremonial preparations or political conferences.</p>
<p>Aang had an idea for a group activity for the morning-if he invited everyone it wouldn't count as a romantic gesture to Katara. And if they all came along, fine. Spending time with friends could never be a bad thing.</p>
<p>"Would any of you like to come with me to see the memorial for Avatar Roku? It's in a garden. There's a little pond and a gazebo-at least there was a hundred years ago."</p>
<p>Toph said she was getting a pedicure, and Sokka awkwardly stammered something about hanging out in his room with Suki, who blushed. Aang tried not to think too hard about that.</p>
<p>"I'd like to come," Katara answered with a smile.</p>
<p>On the way to the garden, they walked through a dark hallway lined with giant tapestries of previous Fire Lords. Katara stopped at the last three—Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai. "I wonder if Zuko will take them down?" she said softly.</p>
<p>"Good question. He's got a lot of decisions to make."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I do not envy him his job at all." She touched the Ozai tapestry. In the woven colors, he looked like a proud, handsome, and strong man in his prime, with an expression that could be seen as either confident or disdainful, depending on the angle, or the viewer's opinion. The resemblance to the power-hungry maniac Aang had fought, or the weak and broken shell he'd imprisoned, was hard to see. Katara turned to look at Aang. "We were wrong to push you so hard to kill Ozai. I'm sorry for not listening to you."</p>
<p>"You didn't know there was any other option." Aang shrugged. "I didn't either, until the lion turtle showed me. My own past selves agreed with you. I'm just so thankful I didn't have to kill him. I think it would have changed me if I did. I might have become just as bad as him."</p>
<p>Katara almost rolled her eyes. "I don't think you could ever be that bad." She took a deep breath, considering. "But it might have...dimmed your light, and that would have broken my heart. I want you to be just the way you are."</p>
<p>He was quiet, his chest full of feeling, afraid to respond too quickly. Were those romantic words, or sisterly ones? He repeated her words to himself, hoping to remember them. He took a deep breath. Best not to push. He began walking away from the tapestries and took the conversation in a slightly different direction. "You were able to avoid killing Azula too."</p>
<p>"Yeah, Zuko and I were saying the same thing. We thought your arguments about the sanctity of all life must have got through to us after all."</p>
<p>"And I thought I was such a terrible debater and lost all those arguments. I mean, it was pretty ridiculous that I couldn't even practice attacking a melonhead Ozai."</p>
<p>"It was absurd!" Katara agreed, laughing. "But facing Azula also showed me how wrong I was to go off after my mother's murderer. You were right that forgiveness is the answer. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you then either."</p>
<p>Her self-reproach seemed excessive to Aang. "You don't need to apologize for that. Your feelings were natural. I'm just glad you were able to work through them. What counts is that you made the right choice in the end, and that you feel some peace." They arrived at a door and stepped into the brilliant sunlight. "I guess it was a good thing you and Zuko went off together. You were finally able to trust him and then the two of you could battle Azula as a team."</p>
<p>"Yeah. All of us, we've become more than a team. We're family. I always thought, Sokka was enough, I'd never want another brother, but now, it's nice, you know?"</p>
<p>In an instant, Aang felt cold inside. He concentrated on maintaining a constant walking pace and froze his expression so that his inner turmoil didn't show. That word, brother. Suddenly he was back at that play watching himself shake hands with Katara, the kiss that had meant so much to him, that he'd taken with him into battle, erased. He was gathering himself to accept rejection graciously, reminding himself how happy her friendship alone made him, that friendship could be enough if it had to be, when he tuned back in: Katara was still talking.</p>
<p>"I mean, I can't replace Azula, or make up for how terrible she is, but I can try to be there for him. I'm constantly surprised by how good he's turned out to be. And smart too."</p>
<p>Aang's mind clicked, and the coldness dissipated. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "You mean Zuko is like a brother to you now?" he asked to clarify, to be completely sure.</p>
<p>"Yeah, isn't it weird?" She laughed.</p>
<p>"Totally weird!" His tension disappeared as he laughed with her, perhaps a little bit too loudly. It was almost as if she had exactly reversed the choices her character had made in the terrible play. Did she mean to imply that she didn't see Aang as a brother? No, not necessarily, that was a leap he shouldn't yet make. But his hope was still alive.</p>
<p>They came to the statue of Roku. Aang bowed, then took a candle out of his pocket and lit it. Katara bowed as well, and placed a flower next to the candle.</p>
<p>He had the urge to pick a flower and hand it to Katara, something he'd done dozens of times before the eclipse, but that definitely counted as a romantic gesture, the kind that might feel to her like unwelcome pressure now. Still, she'd chosen to come here with him alone, did that count for something? He wished he could turn off these considerations and simply enjoy being with her in a beautiful garden on a sunny day. That's selfish desire, he reminded himself. Just live in this moment.</p>
<p>They sat by the pond and made up a game tossing small balls of water at each other and at the turtle-ducks. Then he made little flames appear so that she could put them out with quick shots of water. Before they knew it, their stomachs were reminding them about lunch, and then it was time for the meeting Zuko had asked Aang to attend. Katara said she and Toph had been invited as well, that it was about a performance Zuko wanted them to do at the coronation celebration.</p>
<p>When the benders met to practice for the coronation celebration, Zuko began by explaining his vision for the event and its purpose.</p>
<p>"I want to demonstrate the beauty of the elements and the strength and creativity of peaceful bending. I mentioned my political challenges last night; I want this celebration to demonstrate the harmony we can achieve with cooperation. And I also wanted to make the Avatar kind of the center of attention because he's the one we're really celebrating. I've invited some moderate leaders and nobles whose support I hope to win. So, no pressure!" He grinned awkwardly, acknowledging the great favor he was asking his friends.</p>
<p>"I thought we'd begin with Aang and me doing the dance of the dragon. I'll introduce it and tell everyone about how we went to the origin of firebending, and then ask everyone to take a seat at the tables to give us space. I've asked some musicians to play the drums, and they'll be here when we practice. Does that sound ok, Aang?" The young Avatar nodded.</p>
<p>"All right, then Katara's next. I'll have servants wheel in a giant tub of water. Aang and Katara can make shapes with the water, make it rain, make ice sculptures, have fun with it. Just make sure the guests stay dry. Harpists to accompany.</p>
<p>"For the earth bending demonstration, I thought we should move outside, because I don't really want to destroy the palace. Aang can fly out that door and I'll ask the crowd to make their way to the balconies, where they can watch the earthbending demonstration down in the pavilion. Toph can already be down there ready to start when Aang lands. I thought you two could make earth formations in the shape of the symbols of the four elements. Drums again.</p>
<p>"Then, Aang, you fly back up to the balcony, and Toph can make herself a giant pillar or something, so we're all back in the hall. I'll ask everyone to take their seats again, and then I'd like to make a statement about the air benders. It doesn't feel right to demonstrate the other three elements without including air, and I want to honor the memory of the Air Nomads and take responsibility for the sins of my ancestors. But I definitely want you to guide me on how best to do that, Aang. My first thought was a moment of silence."</p>
<p>"I'm touched, Zuko. I'll think about it and we'll talk."</p>
<p>"Finally, the four of us, representing the four elements, will dance in a circle, each controlling our own element. I can't quite fit a full orchestra in here to accompany us for this finale, but the music should be strong, with lots of instruments blending in harmony, just like the elements."</p>
<p>They began practicing the dance of the four elements almost immediately, each chiming in with different choreography ideas, focusing on symmetry and leaving room for improvisation. They decided that each should step to the middle in turn, and the others would show the effect of their element on the centered element. Their favorite motif ended up being rings and spheres of the different elements orbiting each other, similar to the way Aang had used them together in the Avatar state during his battle with Ozai.</p>
<p>When they felt good about their plan for that dance, they walked down to the pavilion and Zuko pointed out about where he thought the elemental symbols might go. They decided the two earth benders would stay near the center of the pavilion. They'd begin by raising four huge cubic mounds, then gradually carve them away to make the element symbols.</p>
<p>There was a fountain on their way back to the palace, and Aang and Katara couldn't resist jumping in and starting on their routine immediately, throwing out endless suggestions and demonstrating them with the water.</p>
<p>"Do you want to make a mini hurricane?"</p>
<p>"Or a simulated rainstorm? Clouds covering the ceiling, they think it's going to fall on their heads, but it all funnels back to the tub."</p>
<p>"How about just a bunch of waves crashing together in patterns?"</p>
<p>"Shapes of ships, whales, turtles, every kind of fish…"</p>
<p>"And every once in a while we'll just freeze everything to show the cool shapes."</p>
<p>"And then I can slide on the frozen waves!"</p>
<p>"What if I kind of levitate the water with you inside, just swimming, and move it as you move? Like a floating aquarium and you're the fish?"</p>
<p>"I want to do something with shapes like giant snowflakes!"</p>
<p>"They've totally forgotten we're here, haven't they?" Toph muttered to Zuko.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I think so," Zuko chuckled.</p>
<p>"Are we done? I'm hungry."</p>
<p>"Yeah, let's go." Zuko called to the playing water benders. "This looks great, guys! Just keep the final presentation under five minutes, ok?"</p>
<p>"Got it!" They yelled back, without taking their eyes off the water or each other.</p>
<p>As soon as Zuko started walking back to the palace, he heard a giant splash, and then two huge peals of laughter. He smiled but didn't turn around.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: I hope that sweet little scene satisfied some of my Aang fans! Please leave me a review if you liked it!</p>
<p>Next chapter: The Gaang holds a private celebration for Zuko on the eve of his coronation. It's shaping up to be the longest chapter yet, full of exploration of Zuko's relationships with each of his friends. I'm working hard on it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter Nine: Zuko's Circle of Praise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Nine: Zuko's Circle of Praise</p>
<p>Zuko was hoping for some alone time with Mai before the craziness of the next day's coronation, so he was happy when she suggested going to the royal family's sitting room. It was one of the few cozy rooms in the palace, one his mother had planned and decorated long ago. There were couches and comfortable chairs arranged in a circle, with a low table in the middle that usually held refreshments, and a hearth that contained a roaring fire in the winter. As they came through the door, Zuko had his arms around Mai from behind and was starting to kiss her neck, when he heard laughter and looked up. The room was not empty.</p>
<p>"Uh, what are you all doing here?" Zuko asked uncertainly. The couches and chairs held Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka. It seemed like his idea of cuddling on the couch with Mai was out.</p>
<p>"Getting ready to celebrate you, Mr. Fire Lord, sir." Sokka announced grandly.</p>
<p>There was something in the boy's smug tone that made Zuko feel like he'd stepped into a trap. "Huh? Aren't you a little early? That's tomorrow."</p>
<p>"I thought we would bring a Southern Water Tribe tradition to the Fire Nation." Sokka waved Zuko to come over and join them. Warily, he started walking toward the group. "See, on the South Pole, whenever a new Chief is chosen, on the night before he is officially installed, his friends and supporters come together to honor him and strengthen their bond."</p>
<p>Zuko sat down in the only space left in the circle, one big enough for Mai to sit beside him. "Did you know about this?" He asked his girlfriend. She nodded. His friends had conspired behind his back to surprise him. The thought touched him. He decided to play along. "Ok, that sounds nice. So what do we do?"</p>
<p>"The ritual is called the Circle of Praise. Basically, Zuko, each of us is going to say something nice about you."</p>
<p>He shifted, his body tensing up, his eyes darting toward the exit. He could imagine nothing more excruciating than listening to a bunch of well-meaning, but undeserved and unfounded, compliments. At the same time, he didn't want to offend his friends, especially when using that word to describe them still felt so new and precarious, and they'd planned an entire event in his honor. He felt he had no choice but to endure this ill-conceived attempt at stroking his ego. Obviously they didn't know him that well, or they wouldn't try to make him feel good about himself.</p>
<p>"You're serious? That's it?" He asked, to clarify that this was the extent of the discomfort he'd have to go through tonight.</p>
<p>"No, that's not it, but that's the part we're doing now." Sokka replied.</p>
<p>Zuko didn't like the sound of that. There was a pause. He looked around at everybody. Something was off. "Hey, where's Suki?"</p>
<p>"Official Kyoshi warrior business. Apparently, there's a new member they have to initiate." Sokka explained.</p>
<p>"Oh. Right." Zuko nodded.</p>
<p>"Now, Zuko, your job is to sit and listen, and understand and accept that you have our friendship and support, to get you through the challenges of your leadership in the years ahead." Sokka explained.</p>
<p>The intention was so good and sweet that he knew refusal was impossible. His friends simply had no idea that this evening would be like torture for him. That was because of his own strangeness, so it was his problem to suffer through; they were normal and wouldn't understand. Zuko sighed, resigning himself to an evening pretending to appreciate the grating noise of their kind words. If only the room had been empty, he could have had his nose buried in that spot behind Mai's ear, breathing in the scent of her hair.</p>
<p>"If it helps, you don't have to say anything in response now." Sokka clarified the rules, and Zuko nodded understanding. It did help somewhat. Responding to compliments was always difficult.</p>
<p>"I'll go first," Toph spoke up. "You're actually a kind of sensitive guy, Zuko. I can tell people's emotions from their vibrations, and you're almost always the one in the room with the biggest feelings, the most dramatic reactions, and I'm guessing that's a huge surprise to everyone else because you hide it so well. Kind of like right now, you're hiding the fact that you're nearly crawling out of your skin with agitation at the idea that we might actually like you." At this frank and accurate discussion of his feelings and inner life, Zuko felt unbearably vulnerable, as if Toph had just disrobed him in front of the others, and then he realized he'd been naked to her all along. He felt sure his cheeks were red, and looked down to hide them, knowing that it didn't matter if he didn't meet Toph's eyes as he listened to her. That was one of the things that made the blind girl so easy to be around. She was going on. "Even when you're acting morose or pissed off, it's because underneath that, you're disappointed or frustrated, usually with yourself. And you're also sensitive towards others. You hardly make any verbal slip-ups about my sight; you don't forget about it or remind me about it, and not many people can strike that balance. That one sure doesn't." She pointed at Sokka. "I met your uncle before I met you, and I could sense his influence on you even before you started trying to tell us his tea jokes. When you're at your best, when you're calm and centered, I can hear his wisdom coming through you. I'm sure you'll be able to hang on to that no matter what the world throws at you. And I haven't forgotten: you still owe me a field trip."</p>
<p>The mere mention of Iroh soothed Zuko, and the idea that he had absorbed some of his mentor's wisdom was actually incredibly reassuring. He felt a little less tense, and realized his cheeks weren't quite so hot anymore.</p>
<p>Mai seemed to guess how uncomfortable the situation was for him, so she took her turn next to try to put him at ease. Her low voice always made him feel at home. "I know I'm not very expressive, but that doesn't mean I don't have strong feelings. I didn't even realize how much I had been deadening and numbing my emotions, until you started waking me up. I don't think I've ever wanted anything so much as I want you to be happy. Not in a giddy, bouncy way that other people might be happy, but in your way, a way I've seen from you more this week than ever before. You've earned that: you went through a lot, and you figured out who you are, and, yeah, it sucks that you had to break up with me for a while to do that, but I'm over it, and you're not going to do that again, are you?" He shook his head emphatically. "I want to be right here by your side to watch you change the world and continue to grow. You're going to be exactly the leader our country needs because you're smart, compassionate, and resolute. And lucky for me, you're also sexy as hell."</p>
<p>Despite the public nature of this declaration, Zuko didn't blush. He just gave her his signature crooked smile, before pulling her in for a kiss.</p>
<p>Sokka spoke up next, interrupting. "All right, my turn." Zuko pulled away from Mai and braced himself for some brutal teasing. "Oh, Zuko, Zuko, Zuko. When you joined the group, I was skeptical at first, but I came around when I realized how much fun, and how easy it would be to make jokes at your expense. And you never once disappointed. Every time I got a dig in, your reaction was gold. Or you would just be super awkward, or tone deaf, or flub some bad joke. Make no mistake: we weren't laughing with you, we were laughing at you. I have never met anyone else who says shit like, "I'm never happy," and keeps a totally straight face because they actually mean it 100%. Zuko, your entertainment value is endless, and the best part is that you don't even know it. Oh, and also, you're a total bad ass. Like when you got shut in that freezer on the Boiling Rock, and you just breathed some fire, and smirked, and I was like, this dude is going to burn this whole prison to the ground! And then you gave me this inspiring speech that was also depressing as hell, and yet, it was exactly what I needed to hear. Seriously, man, you helped me free my dad and Suki, you kept my sane sister safe from your crazy sister, and starting tomorrow you're going to make the world a more peaceful place. I salute you, sir."</p>
<p>Katara began speaking softly, contemplatively, changing the mood of the room completely. "In Ba Sing Se, I realized that you had been through, and were still experiencing, incredible pain, and I wanted to heal you. Now, the healing has been done, but not by me. Somehow, you healed yourself, and that was the last thing I ever expected a fire bender to be able to do. I thought all your people knew how to do was hurt others. That's how ignorant I was, judging you by your people's past actions. That's why it was such a shock that when I was at my most bitter and angry, you even found a way to heal me: you taught me to forgive. Not just by helping me confront my mother's killer, but by proving that someone who had done bad things could redeem himself. Once I could accept that you had changed, I was open to a deeper optimism than ever before. I think I needed that to survive last week. And also, you give good advice." She blushed at that, which earned her curious looks from some of the others.</p>
<p>The reminder about his talk with Katara that morning after the play—it felt like so long ago now!-made him look at Aang. Luckily, that didn't give anything away, because it was also the young Avatar's turn to speak. "Zuko, I think even when I first met you, I could tell that there was something not quite genuine about your villain act. It was like you were playing a part, doing the things you thought a bad guy was supposed to do because that was the role you'd been assigned. It wasn't the real you. I could tell that you weren't as dangerous as Zhao or Azula; I wasn't scared of you like I was of them." A part of Zuko wanted to feel insulted, as if Aang had called him incompetent, or a bad fighter. But he might as well admit it, he had been a spectacularly ineffective villain, and he actually liked Aang's explanation for his failures during that time. "Even then, you had a code, a line you wouldn't cross, and they didn't. That was why I trusted you and saved you, in Zhao's fortress and in the North. And it's a good thing I did, because in the end it turned out that I couldn't fulfill my destiny without you fulfilling yours. I couldn't restore lasting balance to the world unless there was someone ready to lead the Fire Nation in a new, more peaceful direction. You don't give yourself enough credit for how good you really are inside. If you ever need to be reminded of that, we'll be here."</p>
<p>"All right, that's everybody. Now it's your turn." Sokka said with a grin. "The next part of the Circle of Praise is that you have to say something nice about each one of us."</p>
<p>"You're kidding."</p>
<p>"Not this time."</p>
<p>Zuko's eyes widened and he began to panic. He looked around at each person, meeting their eyes as if they were pointing weapons at him and he were pleading for his life.</p>
<p>The silence stretched on, as everyone stared at him expectantly and his mind went blank. "I'm sorry. I want to...reciprocate. Really, I do. But this is incredibly uncomfortable. I'm not used to giving compliments."</p>
<p>"That's another thing." Sokka said. "No apologies allowed. Self deprecation is also discouraged. If it helps, the last rule of the Circle of Praise is that none of this ever has to get mentioned again. What's said here, stays here."</p>
<p>"Just focus on one person at a time, and pretend none of the rest of us are here." Katara said in a soothing voice.</p>
<p>"Just say the things you always thought about us but never said." Aang counseled. Zuko had the urge to make a wisecrack about how naïve the younger boy was to assume he'd ever had nice thoughts about anyone, but choked it back. They were all talking as if he were normal, as if this kind of communication was something he was remotely capable of. He didn't know how to rid them of this illusion without hurting their feelings.</p>
<p>"I'm not going to lie: the chance to see you stumble through a bunch of clumsy, unintentionally rude attempts at compliments was more than half of the appeal of throwing you this little party. But you know, Zuko, you're always going to be an awkward turtle-duck if you can't figure out how to say nice things to the people you care about." Sokka pointed out. "If you're worried you're going to say the wrong thing, just accept that, yeah, you're going to say the wrong thing-over and over and over again. But a wise man once told me you can't quit because you're afraid you might fail. And where better to fail than among friends? This is a safe space." He solemnly put his palms together.</p>
<p>It was impossible to argue with his own words tossed in his face. Zuko took a deep breath. "All right, fine. You first. Sokka, you don't always think things through. But who am I kidding, neither do I. Somehow you've always come through in the end, and that's what counts. When I was stalking you all I couldn't tell what it was this non-bender was adding to the group—like, was this guy just hitching a ride?-but now I see that you're kind of the brains of the operation. Um, not to say the rest of you aren't smart—" he grimaced, afraid he'd offended everybody at once, and stumbled to explain. "You each have a role, like Katara is the heart, Toph is the muscle, Aang is the...spirit, I guess, the purpose, and Sokka's role is to be the brains, the planner, the strategist. But you're a great fighter too. I know people make fun of your boomerang, but that's only because they have never been hit in the back of the head by that thing. It hurts! You keep things light and make us laugh, and without that, I'm not sure that we would have been able to confront some of the seriously scary and messed up shit we had to deal with this year. Somehow you made dangerous, deadly, stupidly risky missions even fun."</p>
<p>He was finding that once he got started, his words came smoothly and easily; it was actually not that hard for him to express his love for his friends. He looked around to pick the next person.</p>
<p>"Toph." He picked the small blind girl, and decided he knew exactly what she might like to hear. "I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of terrified of you. You've already invented an entire new kind of bending, and you're just, what, twelve? When I was your age, I couldn't even keep myself from falling into the fountain." He glanced at Mai, his grin lopsided. "And the most awesome thing about you is your complete confidence, the way that you just own your power. You don't bother with false modesty, and you don't brag either, you just state the truth of what you can do, and it sounds like bragging to stupid people who underestimate you. And you're pragmatic, and a great listener—obviously, you listen to the earth better than anybody, but you listen to people too. You gave Aang and me the great idea to go find the dragons to get to the source of firebending. And you listened to me going on about my regrets about hurting my uncle after we watched that terrible play. You made me feel better. Also, you're the only person I've met in the past three years who didn't notice my scar first thing."</p>
<p>"What scar? He has a scar?" Toph joked.</p>
<p>"Mai," Zuko looked in her eyes, then down at their intertwined fingers. "You are the best part of the worst decision I ever made, and the worst part of the best decision I ever made. When I betrayed my uncle and joined Azula in Ba Sing Se, it led to spending more time with you. Actually getting to know the girl I had a crush on so long ago. I was amazed to discover someone else who sees the world through the same dark lenses I do. Being with you was easy and fun; you accepted me as I was, and it didn't matter to you that I was a prince, or that I had a scar, or that I had been disgraced. You did your best to support me at a time when I was so lost. We were starting to fall in love, and that's something I had thought would never happen to me. That's why the hardest part about deciding to join the Avatar was leaving you. I'm so grateful you didn't give up on me, that you chose me even after I had hurt you so badly, even when it meant losing your freedom. I just hope I can work to someday deserve the confidence you've already shown in me." He kissed her hand fervently. It took him a minute to gather himself and move on to the next person in the circle.</p>
<p>"Aang." The younger boy smiled at him, waiting. "Do you remember when I wore that blue mask and we escaped together from Zhao's fortress? Even though I held my swords to your throat, you didn't hurt me or fight me or even abandon me. You took me to the forest and waited until I woke up, and talked to me about how in other circumstances we might have been friends. I wasn't ready to listen to that; I shot fireballs at you, but I didn't forget. And when I was struggling to figure out right and wrong, I remembered your kindness. It made no sense to me—it confused me so much that eventually I became physically ill—but, along with my uncle's influence, it's what led me to join you. I've even come to appreciate your moral stance on nonviolence, despite the fact that I argued vigorously against it, especially since it means I still have a father. It would be self-destructive if I held out any hope he'll ever change, but I find I somehow feel better thinking about him rotting in jail than burned to ashes. And that's thanks to you. You didn't just save the world, you also saved me, from myself, and from my family."</p>
<p>"Katara," Zuko looked across into her blue eyes and took a deep breath. It seemed appropriate that he'd saved her for last, without planning it. "I think what I admire most about you most is your sense of justice. And the way you take care of your friends. Even when you were doubting me and threatening me—with good reason-it was because you wanted to protect Aang. Earning your trust is one of the things I'm most proud of, not because I saved your life, but because it was so hard to do." He chuckled, and saw that she smiled back. "Once you finally believed that I was good, that made it easier for me to believe it too. And seeing you show mercy to the pathetic old man who took your mother from you was a great lesson for me. It helped me understand how I might move forward from the pain of my own past. And, of course, your waterbending is amazing, and your healing is near miraculous. We saved each others' lives, and you helped me win my throne; I don't think it's possible to face that kind of experience with someone and not come away from it with some kind of connection." He realized how that sounded, and paused, nervous. He glanced at Aang and at Mai, and decided the risk of pointlessly stirring up unfounded jealousies was worse than the vulnerability of putting his true feeling for Katara into words. "I think of you as a sister now. It's ok if you don't feel the same, you've got a perfectly good brother who's never tried to kill you..."</p>
<p>"It's ok, Zuko. I'll be your sister if you want me to." For a moment the two just smiled at each other. Zuko felt warmth on his chest, where his new scar was, almost as if Katara's water was working its magic on him again.</p>
<p>"Hey, you can't adopt my sister unless you adopt me too," Sokka objected. "We are a package deal!"</p>
<p>"Um, all right," Zuko was pleased, but he also wasn't sure whether or not Sokka was joking. He usually was.</p>
<p>"Welcome to the family!" Aang exclaimed. "Katara and Sokka already adopted me, way back at the Southern Air Temple. So now you're my brother too!"</p>
<p>"Hey, what about me?" Toph asked, sounding offended.</p>
<p>"You've been part of our family since the day you joined us," Katara reassured her. "Didn't I immediately start acting like your bossy big sister, nagging you about your chores?"</p>
<p>"More like a mom," Toph snickered, satisfied.</p>
<p>"You gotta come down to the south pole and I'll take you ice fishing!" Sokka tugged on Zuko's arm. "I'll teach you the boomerang and you can teach me your two swords! We'll get you a wolf helmet—at this point you're basically an honorary member of the Water Tribe. I should have known this is where we'd end up, we're doing this Water Tribe ritual after all..."</p>
<p>Zuko couldn't help bursting into laughter, earning him worried looks from the others, who had never once seen him give more than a wry chuckle.</p>
<p>He had been taught to find these people beneath contempt—by people who hadn't cared for him a fraction as much as they did. His family had conditioned him and trapped him, kept him chasing their unobtainable approval, running to please them when they'd never be pleased, precisely to keep him from this happiness. Because if he'd known this even existed, it would have released him from their control. Now he was finally free. And he found it hilarious. Hysterical, even. That was the word for this feeling. He felt dangerously close to sobbing, and was grateful his body had chosen laughter instead.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry. I'm just thinking of Fire Lord Azulon." Zuko tried to explain himself as soon as he could speak again. "I'd be ashamed to repeat the slurs I heard him use to describe your people. The idea of his grandson joining the Water Tribe—he must be turning over in his grave. Well, that's an Earth Kingdom expression. Here we get cremated. So I guess he's looking up at me from hell and shaking his head in disgust." He shrugged, his laughter subsiding. "I'm fine with that. He ordered my father to kill me when I was 11."</p>
<p>There was a moment of stunned silence.</p>
<p>"He did what?" Katara asked sharply.</p>
<p>"How are you even normal?" Toph asked, incredulous.</p>
<p>"What are you talking about? He's never been normal. Now we get one more part of the reason why." Sokka replied.</p>
<p>"Are you ok?" Katara asked Aang, who had his head in his hands.</p>
<p>"I think Avatar Roku didn't like hearing that, and now he's giving me a headache."</p>
<p>"Sorry about that. I shouldn't have brought it up." Zuko felt ashamed of his over-sharing, as if he'd asked for pity. "Talking about my family history is usually a bad idea."</p>
<p>"No, we want to know what your family did. We want to know you." Katara reassured him. "How else are we supposed to be there for you?"</p>
<p>"I guess that's kind of a new concept for me. I was always taught that asking for help, or sharing personal struggles, was a sign of weakness."</p>
<p>"At this point, haven't you figured out that you basically need to throw away everything your family taught you and start fresh?" Sokka asked. "Except Iroh. He probably taught you some good stuff."</p>
<p>"Yeah. I'm starting to see that. But it goes beyond accepting new ideas, it's also my automatic reactions. That's why I still make so many mistakes. It's why I'm awkward, second-guessing myself all the time."</p>
<p>"That makes sense. It takes time to learn a new way to live. Give yourself some grace. It wasn't all that long ago you were..." Katara trailed off.</p>
<p>"Enough about the past, Katara." Sokka cut her off. "Tonight is about the present—new leadership, chosen family, a war ended—and the future." Sokka put on a stadium announcer voice. "Introducing our latest model of the Fire Lord! New and improved, without any of that pesky patricide, filicide, or genocide! He's crazy, but he's working on it." Sokka finished with a jaunty, hearty gesture, punching his arm to the side.</p>
<p>Zuko couldn't help grinning at that dark humor, his favorite kind. "That's right, Sokka. You know, my forebears really set the bar pretty low for me. As long as I can avoid committing mass murder, wanton environmental destruction, or child abuse, I'll be the best Fire Lord in a century!" He felt gratified when his friends laughed. Making a joke out of his pain was one way to deal with it. "Tonight you helped me figure out an important guiding principle for my reign. Whenever I'm not sure what's the right thing to do, I'll just ask myself what old Azulon would have done, and do the opposite. It's going to be my goal to keep him spinning somersaults underground. Metaphorically, that is."</p>
<p>"Sounds like a solid plan. And I'm the planning guy, I would know."</p>
<p>"Now, Sokka, if there's another one of these Circles of Praise in your future, I'm going to insist on an invitation."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"When you become Chief someday."</p>
<p>"Because my dad is—you know Chief is an elected position in the Southern Water Tribe, it's not hereditary like here."</p>
<p>"So?" Zuko shrugged. "You could win an election."</p>
<p>Sokka looked uncomfortable. "I'm a terrible public speaker."</p>
<p>"What are you talking about? You just gave the longest speech of the night about how ridiculous I am, and you cracked everybody up. Not to mention that the whole event was your idea, and it was a hit. Leadership is more than public speaking, and you've proven yourself as a leader before tonight."</p>
<p>"Told you, Sokka." Aang punched his arm.</p>
<p>"I was also wondering if you'd thought about your future past the victory tour. If you wanted to study engineering or politics or anything, I'm sure I could get you a spot at one of our universities. They're some of the best in the world, especially the science and technology programs."</p>
<p>Sokka looked taken aback. "I hadn't thought about anything like that."</p>
<p>"Well, think about it, then. You have plenty of time, and the offer will remain open indefinitely. Thank you everybody." He looked around at the group. "I really appreciate everything you've said—and done. Your support means more to me than I can say. And Sokka, thanks for organizing this. As torturous as it was at times, I'm glad we did it."</p>
<p>"Me too. I don't know whether I'm pleasantly surprised or disappointed that you turned out to be better at being nice than I thought you'd be."</p>
<p>"I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for me to be an awkward turtle-duck tomorrow, and for a much larger and less forgiving audience. Especially if I don't get some sleep," Zuko hinted.</p>
<p>"All right, we get it. Party's over." Sokka stood up.</p>
<p>"Can we have a group hug?" Katara proposed. "Get over here, Zuko."</p>
<p>It wasn't like the group hug they'd all shared on Ember Island, making a circle with arms around waists and shoulders, the one they'd had to goad him into joining. That had been orderly and gentle, at least until Appa had crushed them all. This was more of a pile-on, with Zuko squarely in the middle. He had Mai and Katara pressing him on either side, with Aang and Toph in front and Sokka in back, circling their arms all around him and each other. He pulled his arms out from where they had been pinned against his sides, wrapping them around the girls' shoulders and finding Aang's bald head with one hand, and Toph's messy hair with the other. Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to imprint this feeling, and found that his exhale came out a little shaky. Maybe that was why Sokka suddenly jumped onto his back and put him in a headlock. The others pushed back and laughed, and almost fell over, as the hug broke apart in a smiling mess of shoves and arm punches.</p>
<p>For years, until he became a father, Zuko counted it as the happiest night of his life.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's note: I'm not sure whether or not Chiefs are elected in the Southern Water Tribe in canon, I just decided that for the purposes of my fic, I wanted them to be.</p>
<p>Next chapter: the celebration after Zuko's coronation</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Coronation Celebration</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Ten: Coronation Celebration</p><p>The coronation went exactly as planned, with all the traveling guests arriving exactly on time. The happy reunions in the crowd quieted when the new Fire Lord and young Avatar took their places on the platform. When the ceremony was finished, everyone filed into the hall, where there were tables and refreshments set up. After the crowd had eaten and drunk as much as they could, Zuko stood to introduce the presentation he'd created with the other three benders. It went exactly as planned, and everyone was dazzled.</p><p>After the dance of the four elements, Zuko briefly thanked Katara and Toph, and then turned the floor over to Aang.</p><p>"Thank you, Zuko, for that presentation. I get to see the four elements together every day, in my own bending and in my friends, but I don't think everyone here is that lucky. I think if everyone could see how beautiful and wonderful it is when all the elements come together, when people come together from all around the world and work toward a single goal, and even become a kind of family—I think then there would never be any wars or violence. Zuko, I just want to thank you for doing the right thing, in the end, for putting the good of the world over your country, over your family. Thank you for teaching me firebending and becoming my friend. I want to pledge here my support, as Avatar, for your goals for the Fire Nation, and let everyone know that I'm willing to do anything I can to help you succeed as Fire Lord. Now, before very recently, the last time I was in the Fire Nation was over 100 years ago. The thing I remember the most about that visit was the dancing. Every night, in every city on these islands, people came together to enjoy music and movement. The people of the Fire Nation used to dance to express their burning passion for life and for each other. So you can imagine how shocked I was when I came back here this year, and found out the people of the Fire Nation had stopped dancing. Zuko and I agreed, this is one tradition we wanted to bring back. So I wanted to teach you all a traditional Fire Nation dance I learned 100 years ago."</p><p>The dance Aang taught was a fast-paced one, for groups or individuals, not couples. Almost everyone in the room joined in, led by the young benders. When the next song started, Aang found Katara and held out his hand. He didn't need to say a word to convince her to dance this time. They began with some of the same water bending moves they'd used when they'd danced together at the party Aang had thrown in the cave for the Fire Nation students. But instead of gymnastic flips and stately symmetrical steps at a distance, they found themselves touching and holding each other more closely as the music moved them. When the song ended with the two caught in a dramatic dip pose, everyone around clapped for the couple, who had been so focused on each other, they hadn't even realized a crowd had gathered around them.</p><p>The poor musicians needed a break by that time. Zuko approached Katara and Aang as they caught their breath after their dance. "Aang, I wanted to introduce Sir Kato, Lady Ikeda, and Colonel Goto. They're dying to meet you." Aang graciously shook their hands. The richly dressed and decorated leaders fawned over the young Avatar while Zuko stepped aside with Katara.</p><p>"Did your politicians enjoy the presentation?" She asked him, smiling with satisfaction for the part she'd played.</p><p>"They loved it! I think Aang just singlehandedly took care of any threat of violent uprising I might have faced. Tomorrow's headlines are going to say that he threatened to put down any rebels himself."</p><p>"I guess you could interpret what he said that way…" Katara knew Aang wouldn't like that implication.</p><p>"That was some dance. Are you two going to start dating now?" Zuko wondered.</p><p>"I did promise him a date." She blushed.</p><p>"When was that?"</p><p>"Back on Ember Island."</p><p>"I sense some hesitation."</p><p>"It just seems like it's moving so fast and he's too perfect, and we're too happy, it's all too good to be true. I'm afraid to mess it up." Katara's words tumbled out in a giddy, apprehensive jumble.</p><p>"You're overthinking it. It's more likely you'd discover a whole new level of happiness."</p><p>"I can't even imagine being happier than this!" Katara gazed wonderingly around at the beautifully decorated room, filled with their friends, all of them safe. "It's like I have a hard time believing this can possibly continue. Not that I think he'd ever change or hurt me, but that I don't trust the world not to take him away from me. Like my mom got taken from me. And then my dad was gone too."</p><p>"I can understand that feeling. I mean, I guess I'm going through something like this with Mai. It is really hard for me to even imagine having a functioning relationship—you know what my family was like. The one I don't trust is myself—I'm afraid I'll lose my temper and screw things up. Like at any minute I could turn into my father."</p><p>"You would never!" Katara reassured him, touching his arm.</p><p>"I hope not, but at the same time, I don't really know how to be anything else."</p><p>"That's bullshit!" Katara pointed her finger in Zuko's chest. "You know how to be your uncle."</p><p>Zuko's jaw dropped a little at her language, then he laughed, remembering when he'd used the same word to call her out. "I guess you're right. I'll try to remember that. I'm trying to accept that at some point Mai and I are going to hurt each other, probably not on purpose, just because life is like that. But also to have faith that I can apologize—I'm getting pretty good at that—and we could get through it."</p><p>"What if Aang and I start a relationship and something goes wrong and then we're not even friends anymore?" Katara fretted.</p><p>"That's a risk." Zuko nodded acknowledgement. "The question is if being together now is worth possible heartbreak later. For me, I think Mai is worth that risk. And instead of worrying about the future, I'm just thinking about the present, and right now, I want to be with her."</p><p>Zuko made it sound so simple. Katara wasn't sure he understood some of her biggest concerns. "You know how he just disappeared before the comet? That wasn't the first time he'd done something like that. He flew off after Appa when he was stolen, as soon as he woke up after Ba Sing Se…basically whenever things get really bad, he runs away and tries to fix it all by himself and doesn't even tell anyone where he's going or if we'll ever see him again. I really don't want to go through that again. Ever."</p><p>"Wow. I don't blame you for worrying about that. That's definitely something the two of you need to talk about at some point." Zuko looked over her head and saw that the nobles were finishing their talk with Aang. "But not tonight. Tonight is about celebration!" He opened his arm to Aang, who was saying goodbye to the nobles. He put one hand on each of their shoulders. "I already told Sokka, but I wanted to tell you two as well. I want to fund your victory tour. From my family's personal fortune, not the national treasury. Before you leave, I'll get you some provisions and new camping gear, and you'll have papers to draw cash from banks around the world. You won't have to worry about scrounging around for food or supplies, and you can pay for lodging when the weather is bad."</p><p>Katara and Aang looked at each other in disbelief, their eyes lighting up at the thought of how easy and comfortable traveling with a little money would be. They thanked him profusely, and then Zuko asked Aang to come with him to meet some more important people, and of course he did. Katara found herself alone in the crowd, so she went to find Sokka. She knew he wouldn't be happy about missing the dancing.</p><p>Hakoda and Suki were sitting at a table with Sokka. Katara's father stood and hugged her when he saw her coming over. He complimented her on her performance, then gave her some surprising news: "Zuko told me he wants to replace the ships that got sunk during the attack at the eclipse."</p><p>"What?" Katara was dumbfounded at Zuko's generosity. "Since when does a victorious nation replace the lost vessels of a defeated invading army?"</p><p>"When their ruler has a conscience and wants to make up for past wrongdoing. That boy impresses me. He's really going to change the world. Zuko said he was going to decommission three ships from the Fire Nation navy and have them repainted and retrofitted to my specifications. My men and I already know how to operate those ships since we commandeered one. I heard that you all are going to Ba Sing Se in a couple days, but I want to stay here and oversee the work on the ships. Then maybe when you all leave for the South for your victory tour, I can sail while you fly and we can all arrive together."</p><p>"I love that plan! I'm sure Aang will too."</p><p>"And Aang! An even more impressive boy! Did you know he could give a speech like that?"</p><p>"Well, I guess that was his longest speech, for his biggest audience, with the highest stakes, that I've ever seen, but yeah, I thought he'd have it in him." As far as she could tell, there was nothing Aang couldn't do. She saw him through the crowd, talking with nobles in red robes. His open, friendly nature made it easy for him to make conversation even with people who had little in common with him. He'd actually make a great diplomat.</p><p>At midnight, the party was still going strong when the fireworks display began. Everyone crowded onto the balconies to watch the fabulous showers of sparks in the sky. Of course, the Fire Nation had the best pyrotechnicians in the world.</p><p>Surveying the crowd, Zuko truly relaxed for the first time all night. The celebration was over, and as far as he could tell, it had been a hit. Everyone had enjoyed themselves, and he had even been able to use the occasion to solidify his position and gain support, while making a strong statement about the kind of Fire Lord he intended to be. He looked around at his friends, amazed to have so many people who cared about him. There was Suki, sitting in Sokka's lap. He noticed Aang and Katara holding hands, their faces tilted up and lit by the colored sparks. He saw a dark head moving toward him in the crowd—Mai! He put his arm around her and she nestled into a comfortable place against his side. Suddenly a familiar hand grasped his shoulder.</p><p>"Great party, nephew!" Iroh congratulated him.</p><p>"Thank you, Uncle!" Zuko grinned.</p><p>"It reminded me of the feasts and gatherings your mother used to host. Excellent entertainment, thoughtful consideration of guests, the finest tea served. She would be very proud of you."</p><p>The thought of his mother closed his throat, as longing for her overtook him. To have had her with him tonight-that would have made it absolutely perfect. He simply nodded at Iroh, blinking rapidly.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapter: Katara learns to fly with Aang on his glider</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11: Flying</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Eleven: Flying</p><p>It was the day after the coronation, and Katara had already slept until the afternoon, and then met with both Zuko and Sokka for healing sessions. It seemed like there was nothing to do; no plans had been made for the whole day, so that everyone would have time to rest. She was basically packed and ready to leave for Ba Sing Se the following morning. She had even visited the seamstress, and had been excited to see that her fancy new green dress was finished in time for the trip to the city. She started wandering the halls of the palace. When she saw Aang with his glider staff, she realized that he was the one she had been looking for without even knowing it.</p><p>Over the few days since his arrival at the palace, Katara had been amazed and relieved to find that things with Aang were suddenly, blissfully easy. The hints of tension and pressure that she had sometimes felt from him in the days between the eclipse and the comet were completely gone. They hadn't discussed or defined their relationship, and yet there was no physical awkwardness between them at all. They were comfortable together all the time. They often held hands when walking together, but it never mattered who had grabbed whose hand first. They sought each other when in groups, they looked at each other to share their reactions to new things. They were best friends. And sometimes there was a thrilling hint of more, of flirtation, of desire below the surface.</p><p>She could tell that a huge burden had been lifted from Aang's shoulders: the pressure of saving the world. He possessed a new ease and confidence, and no longer had a need to prove himself or atone for anything. He had come into his manhood, and she could never feel maternal about someone so mature, not the way she had occasionally during their travels.</p><p>She knew it was a matter of when, not if, they would progress beyond friendship. She doubted there would ever be anyone else for her, and knew she would regret it if she let him move on without at least exploring what they had. She thought of their dancing the previous night. It had been much more intense than at the party in the cave. More touching, more eye contact, more suggestion in their movements. He hadn't yet brought up the date she'd promised him. It would be better if she knew her mind before then. If the date could be a celebration rather than a test. She could only imagine how nervous he might be if he thought that date were his one and only chance—it would be the opposite of his smooth, self-assured dancing. Maybe she owed it to both of them to test her feelings, to put herself in situations where he might have a chance to awaken her desire.</p><p>"Where are you headed?" Katara asked, falling into step with him.</p><p>"Oh, I was just going to take a quick flight around the palace and city. I like to see new places from the air." They came to a door and entered a bright courtyard.</p><p>She got an idea. "Could I fly with you?"</p><p>Aang paused thoughtfully, and then a smile spread slowly across his face. "Yeah. I could make that work. We're about the same size, so the balance wouldn't be off."</p><p>"I liked flying at the Northern Air Temple. Would it be the same?"</p><p>"Kind of, but powered by my air bending. Here."</p><p>He opened the glider and put his left hand on the wing handle. "Put your arm around my shoulders," he said. He wrapped his right arm tightly around her waist. "Grab the other handle. See where your feet are going to go? Do you feel secure?"</p><p>"Yeah." She smiled at him. Their faces were so close.</p><p>"Now I'll kick off and we'll just go low around the courtyard once."</p><p>They took a quick test flight, only about their own height off the ground.</p><p>"Feel ok?" he asked.</p><p>"Yeah. I know you won't let me fall. And that if I somehow did fall, you could catch me." She did feel total confidence in him.</p><p>"That's right."</p><p>He kicked off the ground and they went straight up. After they surpassed the rooftops, they leveled off, flying high enough above to see the whole landscape. That movement, from vertical to horizontal orientation, made Katara's stomach leap into her throat, and she was glad it had been a long time since breakfast.</p><p>He was in his element, but she was very much out of hers. She wondered if he had felt this way at all when he practiced water bending with her. Maybe at first, but definitely not anymore. Was her discomfort now as extreme as his had been when he first began learning earth bending?</p><p>He changed direction a couple times, and she noticed how she braced against him and tensed up, her body rigid and tight. In contrast, Aang was all looseness, swaying with the breeze, leaning into it, except for the arm that held her to his side, that was strong and firm. She made a conscious effort to relax, to move with him and the wind rather than resisting. He noticed the difference almost instantly, and glanced at her with a surprised smile.</p><p>They flew from the palace, to the city, to the harbor. She was used to looking down on the land from Appa's back, but now there was nothing below her, holding her up, except the wind Aang commanded. It felt like they were moving faster than they did on Appa, too, though that may have been an illusion. Aang found an air current, and they seemed to almost float. Birds flew beside them without even flapping their wings; they just coasted effortlessly. One of the birds made a sound, a signal to its friends, and Aang imitated it perfectly.</p><p>Katara gave herself over to the beauty of the world seen from this angle, the tininess of the buildings, the brilliance of the colors of the sky and sea. This was what Aang had given her, this perspective, this expansive splendor. Without him, she never could have taken flight. She was filled with gratitude for this amazing boy and all he had brought into her life, so glad she'd been the one to find him in that iceberg.</p><p>They landed on a flat roof where they could see almost the whole city and harbor, but remain unseen, and sat down to relax and enjoy the view. Katara pulled a fruit out of her pocket and they shared it. Aang showed her the compartment on his glider that held nuts, and gave her a handful.</p><p>"I'm sorry, this was probably less fun for you with me along. You can't do as many tricks and things." she said sheepishly.</p><p>"Are you kidding?" He looked at her like she was crazy. "It's even better for me with you along. I haven't had so much fun since...I don't know, maybe since we went penguin sledding." He quirked the side of his mouth at her, and they shared the memory for a minute, then his smile slowly faded. He sighed and turned his face away from her, looking into the distance. His voice softened and became reflective, almost wistful. "It felt...natural." Yes. It had felt that way for her too—not the flying part, but the part where she was next to him. She was trying to figure out how to put that into words, to reassure him, when he brightened, turning back to her. "And this is just your first time. If you want to keep this up, we can get to where we can do every trick I know. I haven't flown with many people on my glider, and the ones I have, it's usually been emergency situations, and shorter flights than this. Once you kind of got your wings, you were much easier to fly with than anyone I can think of. I mean, Appa and Momo don't count."</p><p>She felt gratified and relieved to hear him say she was a decent flier. She liked the idea of learning a few tricks, although she doubted she'd be able to handle some of his more daring stunts. "Thanks. I'd like that." They smiled at each other a second before turning back to the view.</p><p>"I can't look at this landscape without thinking of the maps Sokka made for his invasion plan. Like, that's where our tanks landed." Katara pointed. "That's the guard tower Sokka and I took out, and right next to it, that's the one where my dad got wounded."</p><p>"That's where we decided to look for the Fire Lord in his underground bunker. That's where the subs came up." Aang continued, contemplative. Suddenly her heart plummeted. Why had she brought up their failure? The day he'd kissed her? When she knew that the last time they'd talked about that... She racked her brain for some way to salvage the conversation, and again, he saved it first. He grinned at her. "Look at us, a couple of scarred old veterans, reminiscing about the glorious battles of days gone by. Our noble defeats."</p><p>She chuckled, relaxing. "I still can't believe how different things are now. If you'd told me that day that we would attend Fire Lord Zuko's coronation, I would have thought you were insane."</p><p>"Not just that we'd attend, but that I'd speak at his coronation! And that I'd dance with him. And with you. Well, maybe that's not as surprising."</p><p>"Not to you or me, maybe, but apparently there were some people who were absolutely shocked by our dance." she informed him.</p><p>"Really? Who? Tell me it wasn't your dad."</p><p>"No, he didn't mention it to me. I just heard about a couple of scandalized Earth Kingdom nobles. And a few disappointed Avatar fangirls."</p><p>"Fangirls?" he looked puzzled.</p><p>"Oh, yes. I have a feeling fangirls are going to be a constant in your life from now on."</p><p>"Well, you could always solve that problem for me."</p><p>"Really? How?" Was he going to suggest she take him off the market?</p><p>"A little water whip. A giant wave." He made gestures approximating the water bending motions. "Freeze the rest in place. Then dance me all around them. Make sure they're super disappointed." He deepened his voice and imitated Zuko's impression of his father. "We need to destroy their hope."</p><p>Katara was cracking up. "I thought the Avatar was supposed to spread hope, not take it away."</p><p>Aang held up his hands innocently. "Hey, if a bunch of girls I never met somehow got it in their heads that I'm going to date one of them, or all of them, allowing them to continue to hope would just be cruel."</p><p>Her laughter died down. That word stuck in her head. The idea that she may be hurting him, even this very minute, was so painful that she had to ask, even though it meant putting it into words, and she was terrified of the answer. "I haven't been cruel, have I?"</p><p>He blinked at her, as if he were confused, then understood. "What? No! You've been...honest." He took a deep breath, then spoke deliberately, looking out into the distance. She could sense some tension in his body, as if he were bracing himself. "But I think...if you do know for sure...that I should give up hope, I would like to know that."</p><p>"No. Don't...give up." She was quiet, looking down into her lap.</p><p>"Then that's all I need." The change in his voice was so dramatic that she had to look back at him, and then his broad grin almost took her breath away. "I can wait as long as it takes. Especially if I still get to fly with you...joke around with you...just hang out. You're my best friend, Katara."</p><p>She was flooded with relief. It was the best thing he could possibly have said. She smiled back at him and took his hand. "Yeah. Best friends." Their shoulders leaned on each other as they watched the movements of the tiny people in the city below.</p><p>After a while, he said, "We should probably go back before they miss us at the palace." He stood and then helped her get up, with the hand he was still holding. They mounted the glider and took off.</p><p>He took a more direct flight path, back to the same courtyard in the palace where they'd practiced. As they came to the ground, Katara's hand slipped from the glider handle a little too early, which made her twirl toward Aang to face him. She grabbed his shoulder with her free hand to steady herself. Her feet had come off the support and she was dangling from where she held him around his neck. It was very clumsy on her side, but he helped her with the strong arm he kept around her waist. Their feet touched down, but their arms stayed where they were.</p><p>He had a small smile on his face and his eyes gazed at her with receptive interest. He didn't move closer or farther away. The moment stretched on as she asked herself what she wanted, how she was feeling, and came up with no definitive answers. There was attraction, sure, but was that their familiar friendly affection, the spark of potential, or real passion, already burning? Was fear holding her back? The temptation to just try it and see almost overpowered her. Maybe her desire needed a certain amount of...stimulation before it would awaken. Surely once her lips touched his she would know! But what if she didn't, and she had to see that hurt in his eyes again? A part of her wished he would just kiss her and take the burden of this discernment away, while a slightly larger part of her was grateful for his patience. She realized that she was the one making it awkward, lingering indecisively in an in-between space, too close for friendship, but not close enough for more.</p><p>She broke eye contact, ducking her head to hide her blush. She hugged him quickly, careful to turn her face away from his, then stepped back, trailing her hand down his arm to clasp his hand. She felt his fingers squeeze hers, and saw that his smile was as happy and open as ever.</p><p>"You know what this means?" she asked, thinking of one more unresolved issue.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Next time you feel like you need to fly away, I can go with you."</p><p>"I guess you could." he replied thoughtfully. He sounded pleased at the idea. "But I don't anticipate flying away anytime soon. There's nothing missing I need to find, nothing to run away from, not anymore."</p><p>She liked hearing him say that. But it wasn't quite the promise she was hoping for, that she suspected she'd need someday. There was a part of her that wanted to argue, to point out that he might have said the same thing the day before his past disappearances, that problems come up out of nowhere, that the world was safer, yes, but not completely without danger. However, she didn't want to spoil this moment picking a fight, especially when she felt she didn't have a real right to make any demands of him.</p><p>"Hey, there you are!" They looked behind them, toward the main part of the palace. It was Sokka, leaning on his crutches. "We're all in the training room. Want to see Toph and Mai take on Zuko and Suki? We're calling it Earthen Knives versus Burning Fans! Or Fan the Flames versus Flying Rock Blades! I'm not sure which. I'm referee, but Toph thinks I'm going to favor my girlfriend and new bro. She's probably right. We could use you as a neutral observer, Aang."</p><p>Katara and Aang glanced at each other, in complete agreement that this sounded like a great way to spend their last evening in the palace before their trip. They took off at a run to join their friends.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapter: The Tea Shop Party, and the BIG KISS</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They couldn't all fit on Appa, of course, so an airship went along to Ba Sing Se as well. Sokka tried to insist that the ones he called 'the original six' go together on the sky bison: himself, Aang, Katara, Toph, Suki, and Zuko. But Toph preferred the enclosed metal airship, and Zuko wanted to be with Iroh and Mai, so the two Water Tribe siblings and their significant others, official and unofficial, ended up riding on Appa's back. Sokka was not shy about cuddling with Suki in Katara and Aang's company, but the younger two kept a more friendly distance.</p><p>"I had no idea you two were such great dancers!" Suki exclaimed, once they had left the Fire Nation islands behind and were floating over the sea. Katara and Aang blushed with the memory of their dance at the coronation.</p><p>"Oh, yeah, they're famous for it all throughout the Fire Nation." Sokka explained. "You missed it when we threw a party in a cave, and they corrupted the local youth with their risque moves. These two were such a danger to public morality, they had to send in the school principal to shut the whole thing down."</p><p>"That must have been so much fun! When Sokka's leg is finished healing, can you teach us some steps?"</p><p>"Sure! Toph doesn't call me Twinkletoes for nothing!" Aang agreed brightly.</p><p>"I mean, we can try." Katara wanted to temper Suki's expectations. "But I don't want to get your hopes up. Sokka has never been particularly graceful. And he doesn't have much of a sense of rhythm."</p><p>"Hey, Master Piandao said I have superior agility! And creativity!"</p><p>"Yeah, but have you ever tried to follow a beat while sword-fighting?"</p><p>"Have either of you?"</p><p>"We spent a whole day with Master Pakku listening to the rhythm of the waves and learning to work with it in our bending. He had musicians accompany the lesson to help us follow along."</p><p>"Fine, so your fighting specialty happens to be one that comes with dance moves. That doesn't mean the rest of us can't learn."</p><p>"He's right, Katara." Always the peacemaker, Aang came between the siblings. "I'm sure he'll be able to pick up some new dance steps easily enough. Once he can use his leg, that is."</p><p>"How much longer do you think until it's healed?" Suki asked.</p><p>"About two weeks. Maybe one until you can limp short distances with only a cane instead of a crutch."</p><p>"Wow, that's fast!" Suki sounded amazed.</p><p>"Well, it was a clean break, and he's been doing a good job following my instructions and keeping off of it."</p><p>"Don't be modest, Katara. It's because you're an amazing healer." Aang squeezed her arm. "You know she basically brought me back from the dead."</p><p>Katara's heart seized up at the memory. There was probably nothing she wanted to talk about less than that horrific time. She changed the subject. "We missed you at Zuko's Circle of Praise, Suki."</p><p>"Oh, yeah, how was that? I was so sad I couldn't make it! But Ty Lee's initiation was also very special."</p><p>"Surprisingly entertaining and revelatory. How close do you think he came to crying?" Sokka asked, looking toward his sister and Aang.</p><p>"There's nothing wrong with that, Sokka." Katara replied protectively. "You'd be emotional too if you'd been through what he has."</p><p>"You didn't answer the question." her brother pointed out.</p><p>"From what I could tell, really close." Katara answered.</p><p>"That just means we did what we set out to. We communicated to him how much we care about him, and he got it." Aang said, in his matter-of-fact way.</p><p>"To be honest, it was kind of my goal to make him cry." Sokka admitted. "But then once it came down to it, I found I wanted to help him save face and keep a stiff upper lip. I was afraid he would just feel so humiliated if he fell apart."</p><p>"Really? It's not like you said anything particularly deep or heartfelt." Katara scoffed.</p><p>"I mean, it was my goal in planning the event." Sokka clarified. "Obviously I went straight for the comedy. It's my thing. And you have to admit, Zuko takes himself a little too seriously, and has made himself the perfect target for a few—no, a lot of jokes. I knew one of you two would have a better chance at pulling his heartstrings than me anyway. Or maybe Mai."</p><p>"If he had just let himself cry, he might have felt even better. A good cry is very cleansing. It's a big release." Aang remarked wisely.</p><p>"Bato told me that Dad cried at his Circle of Praise. But it was because that was when Mom told him she was pregnant with me." Sokka said.</p><p>"What a sweet story!" Suki clasped her hands together, charmed.</p><p>"I know." Sokka pretended to wipe away a tear. "I brought so much joy into their lives. Yours, too. Everyone's, really."</p><p>Katara rolled her eyes. "Are you sure that was joy? Looked more like aggravation to me. Although I suppose I wasn't there for your first year or two, before you learned to talk."</p><p>Once Sokka and Katara's bickering died down, the four kept talking about Zuko's plans for the Fire Nation, and tried to imagine how the rest of the world would change now that the long war was over. They shared their excitement about the victory tour, the places they wanted most to revisit, and how nice it would be to travel without foraging for their next meal. Their plans for the trip were starting to come together, as they discussed where they'd go and what they wanted to do in each place. Aang wanted to do some kind of service project at each stop, to improve the lives of the local people in some way. Sokka just wanted lots of parties—a welcome party, a food party, a story-telling party, a bending and sword-fighting tournament party, a good-bye party. There were some places they were planning to skip, like deserts where they'd done nothing but train or get lost, or places where they hadn't met anyone whose names they could remember. And other places where they'd make up that time. Katara wanted to spend some extra time at the North Pole learning more about healing, and maybe even teaching some of Master Pakku's new female water bending students.</p><p>When she had talked to Zuko at his coronation, Katara had thought that things with Aang were absolutely perfect, but since their flying lesson, she'd been amazed to discover they could get even better. It had been so comforting to get some of their feelings out in the open, to know that he didn't resent her in the least for needing some time, that he enjoyed their friendship so much that he didn't count it as a loss to wait for more. When she'd given him a hug instead of a kiss, his nonreaction had proved that her indecision wasn't even costing him anything, and that made her feel so free. It was also incredibly reassuring just to find that it was possible to talk about their relationship without having a fight, that they could express their needs to each other and respond with consideration and care. It was the greatest gift.</p><p>She was beginning to see that there was something almost delicious about putting the moment off a little longer, prolonging her anticipation, wondering when he would say something, or what it would take for her to give in, imagining what it would be like when it finally happened. There was a part of her that said there was no rush; they had their whole lives. There was no impending crisis or separation. They had every expectation of safety, security, freedom, and long life. They could carry on like this for years, and be perfectly content.</p><p>On the day of the tea shop party, the change seemed to come from Katara's body. Beneath her conscious awareness, processes that had long been halted from stress and starvation, started up again. There was something newly sensual about the way she felt when she moved, especially in her silky new green dress. Her mind couldn't seem to find anything in the future to worry about anymore, and it started to slow down and allow her to notice some things in the present. Among them were Aang's bare shoulder and arm, his scent, and her body's reactions to them. Sometimes the touch of his hand created a feeling of vertigo in the pit of her stomach, like taking a sudden dip through the air when riding through a storm on Appa's back. Sometimes she felt a hollow ache a bit lower than that. Is this what desire feels like? she wondered.</p><p>Iroh played music, while Zuko humbly served the tea. They all had a sense that their time together was coming to an end, and soon they would scatter. It made Sokka try to memorialize the moment in a clumsy drawing. While the others made fun of Sokka's picture, Aang stepped outside to look at the view from the balcony, and Katara watched him. She felt a pull toward him, to fill in the empty place at his side, to share this moment with him, a moment that would never happen again.</p><p>Was she ready? Would she ever be? Did that even matter? They had all done so many things this year they weren't ready for. They were children who'd fought and won a war. The comet didn't wait for them to be ready. They had found the courage to fight battles they weren't prepared for because the universe had demanded it. So they had trusted in their abilities and each other, and had come through. Before facing the enemy, they had all felt woefully underprepared, but in retrospect, they must have been ready, or they couldn't have survived. Maybe love was like that too. Maybe even now, her destiny was making her ready.</p><p>For the first time Katara's curiosity outweighed the pleasure of waiting and anticipating. She joined Aang on the balcony and they looked out on the beautiful sunset over the world they'd saved together. He turned to her, and they fell into a familiar embrace that was also somehow totally new.</p><p>Aang smiled at Katara, and in his smile was affection, contentedness, and complete openness. The desperation and insecurity she'd seen in him on the balcony at the Ember Island theater was gone. Anything she wanted to offer him, he would accept gladly, and if it was nothing, he would simply remain, his heart open, extended, and waiting for her.</p><p>She could no longer resist. Her concerns about the future, about the risk to their friendship, became utterly insignificant as she realized how much she wanted this, wanted him, now. She stepped forward and gave him her lips, pressing them against his, fitting them together. Almost instantly, her body and soul whispered unmistakable confirmation: yes, this was right. Her hands touched his cheeks and jaw, cradling his face and bringing him closer as his arms wrapped around her back. He turned his head for a new angle, and their noses bumped a little. She draped her arms around his neck as they lightly brushed their lips against each other, exploring. Feeling bold, she slid her tongue along the edge of his bottom lip, and heard a sound she didn't recognize, a faint moan or melting sigh, surprising her so much she pulled away. Did he do that? Did she make him do that? The thought thrilled her, and she felt a wide grin stretch across her face. His eyes fluttered open at the abrupt end to the kiss, widening in slight embarrassment at his own enthusiastic reaction, but then instantly relaxing in relief at her smile. They both breathed in the wonder of what they had just discovered, and hugged again, tighter this time. Aang buried his nose in the spot between Katara's neck and shoulder, and she cupped the back of his head in her hand. Finally they turned toward the sunset and watched the sky change colors with their arms wrapped around each other's waist.</p><p>When the sun was totally gone, they went back into the party, and were a little bit surprised that their friends didn't tease them. Katara didn't expect that this would last, but was grateful for the reprieve of at least this first night. They reintegrated themselves into the group as if they had never left, as if nothing had changed, and in some of the most important ways, nothing had.</p><p>The party broke up after the second person started nodding off, and they all retreated to their rooms.</p><p>Aang walked Katara to her door. For almost a whole minute he struggled to find words to tell her what their kiss had meant to him, and in the end he just said simply, "Katara, I—I'm really happy."</p><p>She smiled at him. "Me too." She dropped a quick kiss on his lips and turned to her room. "Good night, Aang."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's note: Well, what did you think? Did I do that beautiful moment justice? Please let me know with a review!</p><p>Yes, I know that I'm departing from canon not to have Sokka interrupt Aang and Katara's big kiss, as he does in the graphic novel The Promise. I really wanted them to have that moment all to themselves. I'm not following the graphic novel canon at all, although I like the stories and use some similar themes. I have tried to stay faithful to the TV canon, presenting missing moments. But this is where the TV show ends, and from here on, it's all me.</p><p>Next chapter: how does the rest of the Gaang react to the change in Aang and Katara's relationship? Or, how Aang should have put an end to the constant teasing from Sokka.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's note: Again, this chapter is a departure from the graphic novel canon. This is how I thought Aang should have dealt with Sokka's "oogies." Yeah, Sokka's disgust for his sister having a boyfriend makes a funny running gag, but it's also kind of disrespectful of their relationship, and I thought it should have been nipped in the bud.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 13: The Next Day</p><p>Aang took two steps to his bed and fell into it face first. This wasn't like when Katara had promised him a date, and joy had filled his limbs with unstoppable energy that needed an immediate outlet—now he was sleepy and dazed, but in the best possible way. This felt like finally relaxing, sinking in—a feeling that would have been terrifying if he didn't feel so certain about it, about her. He was sure that they were falling together and would catch each other, he knew they could let go and enjoy the ride down in full confidence that they would be cushioned and supported by something big and soft and comforting. That idea made him think of Appa, which probably made him weird, but he didn't care.</p><p>Yeah, it was a little embarrassing that he'd made that sound—it was almost a squeak—but she hadn't seemed to mind. He remembered her radiant smile, the way her body had felt in his arms, her impossibly soft lips. How could he have held back, kept any part of himself disengaged—that would have been the only way to prevent an involuntary reaction like that, and it wasn't worth it. All of him was hers. He fell asleep reliving each second of that kiss, trying to cement it in his memory and bring it with him into a dream, where it could last all night.</p><p>That was probably why Katara's kiss was his first thought upon waking. He wondered if it would happen again today. He thought there was a possibility that she might want to keep the change in their relationship secret from the others, probably to avoid their teasing. He would go along with whatever she wanted, of course, but it wouldn't be easy if he had to keep his feelings hidden.</p><p>When Aang came to the breakfast table in the morning, everyone was already there except for Katara. He piled some fruit on his plate and listened to the others talking about their plans. They would be making a diplomatic visit to the Earth King, and then Zuko and Mai were leaving on the airship for the Fire Nation. Appa and those flying on him would stay in the city another day.</p><p>"Good morning," Katara called cheerfully to the group as she walked into the room. She put a hand on Aang's shoulder, planted a small kiss on his upturned mouth, and sat down in the chair next to him, all in one fluid, casual motion. It was as if she had kissed him every morning of her life. Aang's heart swelled with happiness and his last worries disappeared. This was his life now, and it was wonderful. He turned back to his food, trying to match Katara's breezy, matter-of-fact manner despite the heat he could feel on his cheeks.</p><p>The rest of the table went silent. Then there was a loud groan from Sokka, who dropped his head in his hands, "And so it begins," he said in a tragic voice.</p><p>Toph spoke up, her voice surprised. "Did Aang and Katara just kiss?"</p><p>"Yes, and now I wish I were blind too!" Sokka rubbed at his eyes, pretending they were somehow wounded by what they'd just witnessed.</p><p>"Wait, this is new?" Iroh sounded confused.</p><p>"That's what I was saying!" Zuko exclaimed, gesturing his agreement with his uncle.</p><p>"Am I going to have to see this every morning from now on?" Sokka asked despondently.</p><p>"No one is making you look," Katara answered, her voice nonchalant, focused on spreading some preserves on her roll.</p><p>"You think I can ignore the oogie feeling I get when I see my little sister locking lips-"</p><p>"Don't you think this is a little hypocritical, Sokka?" Katara interrupted, rolling her eyes, utterly bored by the inanity of her brother's argument. "Suki was in your lap the entire ride here."</p><p>"That's different!"</p><p>"I would love to hear you explain the difference."</p><p>"Suki doesn't have an older brother watching in disgust while she and I make kissy face." Sokka answered reasonably.</p><p>"So girls with older brothers aren't allowed to date, and girls with no older brothers are?"</p><p>"Finally, you're understanding!"</p><p>"You know, you don't have to come along on this victory tour. Aang and Toph and Suki and I would have a great time without you-"</p><p>Sokka indicated his broken leg. "I'm the veteran with the most serious injury from this war, and I'm the one you're going to exclude?"</p><p>Aang had to interject himself between the siblings at that point. "Sokka." The table quieted and turned to him. He put his hand over Katara's and spoke simply. "Katara and I are happy. Is that ok with you? After everything we've been through, are you really going to try to spoil this for us?"</p><p>"Ugh, now Mr. Moral High Ground comes through with the guilt trip." Sokka rolled his eyes dramatically. "Of course I want you to be happy. You know that I'm joking! I'm the jokes guy. It's what I do. If I can't make fun of my little sister and her new boyfriend, a part of me will wither and die."</p><p>"Ok, I get that. But the thing is, those jokes aren't funny. Hold a higher standard for your comedy, Sokka."</p><p>The whole table ooohed at the harsh insult. Sokka leaned back in his chair and clutched his heart.</p><p>"You don't have a real problem with Katara and me being together, do you?" Aang went on, throwing down a dare. "Because if you honestly think I would ever hurt her, then it's over now."</p><p>"Aang, it's not up to him!" Katara objected, but he squeezed her hand, wordlessly asking her to trust him.</p><p>Sokka sighed and rolled his eyes. He hated when people made him talk sincerely. "I know you wouldn't hurt her. You've done more to keep Katara safe than anybody."</p><p>"Hi," Zuko waved his hand. "Took a lightning bolt for Katara about a week ago?"</p><p>"You get number 2. You beat me." Sokka conceded. "But I don't even want to get started listing how many times Aang has saved my sister. Including from you."</p><p>"Fair enough," Zuko held up his hands in surrender and backed out of the dispute.</p><p>Katara was leaning back in her chair, arms crossed. "I have saved and healed all three of you."</p><p>"Everybody needs to be saved sometimes. Even someone as strong as you or me." Aang said simply. He smiled at Katara, and her cross expression softened. She couldn't seem to help smiling back. He turned back to Sokka. "Here's the deal. You can have 3 unfunny jokes a day about me and Katara. After that, you're kicked off Appa. Even if we're flying over the ocean."</p><p>"So there's an exception for jokes that are funny."</p><p>"Of course. We can laugh at ourselves. And there's some trial and error in comedy, so you get to make 3 mistakes a day, and vent that 'oogie' feeling a little if you have to. But if the whole joke is that our being together is disgusting, that's not funny. You can do better than that."</p><p>"Challenge accepted." Sokka stroked his chin as if he were already starting to come up with new, more mature jokes.</p><p>"You've already met your limit for today and we're not even done with breakfast."</p><p>"Self-restraint is a virtue," Iroh advised solemnly, his eyes sparkling.</p><p>"You know, we're due to meet with the Earth King in about 20 minutes, and then Mai and I are flying home." Zuko reminded everyone of the schedule.</p><p>Everyone stuffed the rest of their food in their mouths or grabbed it to go. There was a rush of gathering shoes and belongings and heading for the door.</p><p>In the Earth King's throne room, the war heroes received medals in a formal ceremony. The Earth King solemnly placed gold medallions on Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Suki, and then gave a speech about how they had bravely protected the Earth Kingdom from the evil Fire Lord. Zuko looked a little uncomfortable as King Keui went on at length about how terrible and destructive Ozai was.</p><p>"He knows I put my father in prison, right?" he whispered to Katara.</p><p>"I think so," she replied.</p><p>After the ceremony, there was a diplomatic meeting where everyone voiced a commitment to peace and harmony, but kept the details vague for now. They made plans for regular meetings to decide the future of the colonies that the Fire Nation had settled on the shores of the Earth Kingdom. Iroh and the other Brothers of the White Lotus gave an update on the remaining members of the Dai Li who had not yet been captured. A court artist made them pose for a picture of Zuko shaking hands with the King, with Aang standing behind them smiling. Bosco the bear played with Momo while the others grazed on a buffet.</p><p>When they were finished with the meeting, Appa flew them to the field where they had left the airship, so that Zuko and Mai could fly back to the Fire Nation. There was a flurry of hugs, even though they knew they'd see each other again in a couple of days.</p><p>"So do I get to say I told you so?" Zuko asked Katara as he pulled her in for a brotherly hug.</p><p>"About what?"</p><p>"That you've discovered a whole new level of happiness." He smiled at her, and she blushed.</p><p>"You can say it this time. But don't make it a habit." Katara cautioned him, her finger in his face, her smile suppressed by mock sternness.</p><p>Zuko took Aang's shoulder so he could speak to them both. "This is the greatest compliment I can give you: You two deserve each other."</p><p>After the airship disappeared behind a cloud, everyone flew back to the tea shop on the sky bison. They weren't hungry after the big meal at the palace, and they felt like doing some sightseeing. Aang suggested a visit to the zoo he'd built. Toph made a stone chair for Sokka and pushed it through the exhibits. While they looked at the animals, the group started to notice people pointing at them, persistent murmurs following them. The fog of disinformation surrounding Ba Sing Se had lifted, and news of the Avatar's victory had excited the public. Without any kind of head covering on, Aang was pretty easy to identify. Before they knew it, the friends were surrounded by a mob of happy Earth Kingdom citizens, most of them teenage girls, thanking and congratulating the Avatar.</p><p>Aang responded politely to questions and congratulations for as long as he could, directing some attention to his friends and telling the roles they had had in the downfall of the Fire Lord, but the crowd only seemed interested in the Avatar, and they grew increasingly persistent. Finally he concluded that the only escape was up.</p><p>He opened his glider and turned to Katara. "Want to fly away together?" he asked. She grinned at him and threw one arm around his shoulder. She wasn't quite fully situated on the glider before he took off, but righted herself quickly.</p><p>"See you at Iroh's tonight," Aang yelled down to Sokka, Suki, and Toph as they swooped over their heads.</p><p>They soared over the city rooftops and walls. For a few minutes, looking down at the chaos of the closely-packed buildings, Aang was afraid he was lost, and he and Katara would just have to fly circles around the city forever. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. He was doing his favorite thing with his favorite person. Did life get any better than this? He remembered how amazing it had felt when she had first begun to lean into the wind with him, over the Fire Nation capital. That day, he had just been mystified that somehow she didn't seem to see how great they would be together, when to him it was so obvious. But then she'd made an explicit request that he not give up hope—it was as good as a promise. And then, in the courtyard, he could have sworn she was about to kiss him, and the fact that she gave him a hug instead in the end hadn't mattered nearly as much as the fact that he could tell she had considered it. Sure, she'd been tantalizingly close, and as gorgeous as ever, but it was still downright easy to simply remain immobile and wait to see what she decided. He had just focused on her and his curiosity about what she was about to choose. It was like a mindfulness technique from the monks. And now it was clear that his strategy, whether it came from Sokka or Roku, wasn't just morally right and respectful, it had paid off. Just a little more than 48 hours later, she had finally kissed him. He felt like he'd passed some test.</p><p>Eventually he did find Iroh's neighborhood and his restaurant. As they came down onto the roof, Katara let go of the glider and held onto his shoulders with both arms. This didn't seem clumsy or accidental, the way it had when they'd landed in the palace courtyard after her first flying lesson, but almost graceful, like a dance move. When their feet touched down, she smiled at him, then lowered her eyes to his mouth, her own lips parting. He didn't feel honor bound to freeze this time, and began to lean in, but she seemed to move just a little bit faster. When their lips touched, he felt his chest expand and grow warm, as if she were breathing life into him. His hand slid up her back, underneath her hair, while his lips tested just how soft hers were. He darted the tip of his tongue out to taste the very corner of her mouth, and felt her body actually tremble. Does that mean she likes it? Suddenly he needed to see her. For a second, her eyes stayed closed, her lips and chin still reaching for him, then she came to herself and smiled sheepishly, which seemed a thrilling acknowledgement that she was with him in this. His faith of the previous night was confirmed: they were indeed flying and falling as one. Elated, he squeezed her around the ribs and leaned back, so that her feet came up off the rooftop for a second, and put her back down laughing.</p><p>"Thank you for standing up for us this morning," she said, as soon as she regained her footing and her composure.</p><p>"You stood up for us too," he reminded her. He wished he could put into words how much it meant to him.</p><p>"But you did it in a much more mature and effective way." She pulled away and looked at him, her voice full of self-deprecation.</p><p>"Just a little verbal airbending. Dodge the attack, then knock him off balance. I think not growing up with Sokka actually gives me an advantage in negotiating a cease-fire for teasing."</p><p>"Probably. But I'm not sure how to feel about you letting Sokka decide if we were going to date." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him.</p><p>"I was confident my record would speak for itself." Aang couldn't help letting a little smugness into his voice, as he put his hands on her hips. He was proud of having saved Katara so many times, and if those rescues had earned him Sokka's approval, that felt like a victory worth celebrating. "What protective older brother wouldn't want the Avatar to keep his sister safe?"</p><p>She pulled away and crossed her arms. "I can take care of myself."</p><p>"Of course you can!" Aang felt like he'd stepped into a trap he should have seen a mile away. He knew she was sensitive about her independence. The warning chill in her voice alarmed him, and he tried to defuse her anger before it grew out of control. "But you don't have to. Just like you were saying the other night, I don't have to do everything because I have friends to help."</p><p>"You mean you've actually, finally learned that lesson?" Katara dropped her arms. She sounded exasperated, but hopeful.</p><p>"I think so?" Aang ventured. It seemed like the right answer, but he wasn't sure what it meant, or whether he'd be able to prove he'd learned it by his actions.</p><p>Katara laughed at his hesitant tone, and took his hand. "We'll see, I guess."</p><p>They went down into Iroh's shop, and he put them to work in the scullery. They were able to waterbend to clean the dishes and pots quickly, so they had time to make some improvements to the restaurant's water system. They were showing Iroh how it worked when the others came in. They'd stopped in the market on the way back from the zoo, and were full of stories of how they'd navigated the trains. That was just when the dinner rush hit, and everyone pitched in to help. After the restaurant closed, Iroh served the young friends one last cup of tea, narrating each step in the preparation, and lecturing them about how tea incorporated all four elements, water, earth, fire, and air.</p><p>"How much of that was a metaphor?" Sokka whispered to Aang.</p><p>"I have no idea," he whispered back. "But I think it was really wise."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a comment if you like seeing Aang happy and in love!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14: Hakoda</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 14: Hakoda</p>
<p>As they crossed the ocean to return to the Fire Nation, everyone was very polite. Perhaps it was Iroh's lingering influence, or something in the tea he'd sent along with them. Sokka seemed to be making an effort, so Aang and Katara kept a friendly distance from each other, to avoid provoking him. They didn't really want to have to enforce the limits on teasing by tossing him overboard. (But there was a rope they could use to tow Sokka along if it became necessary.) They all talked about the three ships being retrofitted in the same harbor where theirs had been sunk on the day of the eclipse, and their plans to visit the South Pole with Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father. After a while, Sokka fell asleep with his head in Suki's lap. Aang called Katara over to sit with him on Appa's head.</p>
<p>"So, when we get back, do you think we should talk to your dad and tell him about us?" he asked her. "I'm not sure what you all do in the Water Tribe. I just want to do the right thing."</p>
<p>She sighed. "You're right. We probably should talk to him. We shouldn't hide or lie or sneak around. He should hear it from us, and it's not a secret that can be kept, not with that one around." She indicated Sokka. "But my relationship with my dad is complicated. We love each other, but I missed him so much growing up, and a part of me still resents him for not being there for me, even though I know I shouldn't. If he reacts poorly, I'm afraid it'll be a big fight."</p>
<p>"I don't want to come between you and your family." Aang said uncertainly.</p>
<p>"If my dad tries to come between you and me, it will be his fault if I stop speaking to him, not yours."</p>
<p>The implication that Katara would choose him over her father both impressed and worried Aang. He recalled her indecision about leaving with him, despite her grandmother's opposition, the day after they'd met. And, worse, when he'd stupidly hidden that map that was meant for Bato, and she and Sokka had both walked away from him. Now it seemed like she'd chosen sides, chosen him, for good. It was humbling and gratifying, but he fervently hoped she would never really have to make that kind of choice. "Do you think he'll disapprove? Would he rather you were with a guy from the Water Tribe?"</p>
<p>"No, that's not it. I mean, it might be a surprise for him. I'm sure he never imagined I would ever even meet an air bender. He probably assumed I'd never leave our village. Anyway, I don't think that our differences would be a problem for him. Not at this stage, anyway. But it just feels so silly to ask him to allow us-we're used to traveling without adults and doing what we want. I don't want to let anyone curtail my freedom, especially not my dad. I don't belong to him, or to you, or anyone but myself."</p>
<p>"Of course." Aang agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment. One could just as easily have possessed the ocean, as this amazing girl. "What if we say it more like, we're informing him, not asking for permission. Like, sharing the good news."</p>
<p>"That doesn't sound so bad. Thanks for thinking of it."</p>
<p>Aang put his arm around her shoulders, and they leaned on each other as they flew over the waves.</p>
<p>_______________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>They arrived late at the palace. The next morning, Aang and Katara flew down to the harbor to see Hakoda.</p>
<p>The chief was glad to see them, and seemed excited to show off his new vessel. "We had five ships for the invasion, and they had integrated submarines. The Fire Nation navy doesn't have anything like them, so Zuko couldn't give me exact replacements without a long time to design and build something brand new. I didn't want to wait, so I picked these because they were the same model as the one we commandeered. We already know how they operate. I only have enough men to sail three of them."</p>
<p>He gave them a tour of one of the ships, pointing out the changes and improvements. The ship felt familiar to them, but now the Fire Nation flags and insignia were gone. Half of the exterior was painted a soft blue-gray. The three ships in transition stood out from the others in the docks.</p>
<p>When they were back on the deck where the tour had begun, Katara took Aang's hand. With a deep breath and a quick glance to his eyes for courage, she said, "Dad, I just wanted to tell you that Aang and I are together now. We're a couple."</p>
<p>Hakoda seemed taken aback. He looked between the two, noticing their clasped hands. "Well, Katara, this is much earlier than I ever imagined having this kind of conversation with you," he began.</p>
<p>"War has a way of making people grow up fast." his daughter answered solemnly.</p>
<p>"I suppose it does." Hakoda nodded contemplatively. "You've both certainly taken on an adult's burden this year. As hard as it is for a father to admit it, my little girl...isn't so little anymore." He turned to Aang. "Well, young man, my daughter is lucky to have caught your eye."</p>
<p>Aang smiled at Katara. "I think I'm the lucky one, sir."</p>
<p>"Good answer." Hakoda chuckled. "Well I suppose I can have no objections, as long as you follow traditional Southern Water Tribe courtship customs."</p>
<p>Aang looked to Katara, so that he could follow her lead. She looked like she was barely restraining herself from rolling her eyes. "Your request is noted, Dad."</p>
<p>Aang was alarmed to see her teenage petulance. He had the immediate impulse to repair any damage to the relationship, but without making any commitments that Katara had pointedly chosen not to make, especially considering he had no clue what customs they were talking about. The best he could come up with to strike that careful balance was, "We'll try our best, Hakoda."</p>
<p>Aang was due back at the palace for a conference with Zuko and representatives from some of the Fire Nation colonies, so they had to cut the visit short.</p>
<p>"That wasn't so bad," Aang commented to Katara as they walked down the gangplank to the dock.</p>
<p>"No, I guess not," she said, but he could sense some hesitation there.</p>
<p>"Just so you know, I like your dad. He's smart and brave and a great leader. And he seems to like me."</p>
<p>"He barely knows you. He thinks of you primarily as the Avatar."</p>
<p>Aang shrugged. "Lots of people react that way to me at first. Maybe we'll have some time to bond on the trip south." He opened his glider and put his arm around Katara. The wind and height ended further conversation.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 15: Back to Ember Island</p><p>The meeting dragged on through lunch and dinner. Aang had greatly underestimated how contentious and exhausting the negotiations for the future of the Fire Nation colonies would be.</p><p>When they finally adjourned, Aang pulled Zuko aside. "Do you need me for any more meetings this week? It's just that Hakoda's ships won't be ready for the victory tour for about five more days, and I was wondering if Katara and Sokka and the rest of us could just spend the time at the Ember Island house relaxing."</p><p>"Of course. Great idea. You all deserve a rest. I'm sorry to have monopolized you with these meetings. I do appreciate it. You're making my life a lot easier. You noticed how the Earth Kingdom ambassador disagreed with me, but then he agreed with you when you said the exact same thing?" Aang nodded, rolling his eyes. "There have been workers at the Ember Island house for the past week, working to repair the damages we made. They might not quite be done, but you should still be able to stay there. I'll send the twins to take care of you all while you're in the house. Maybe if I'm lucky, Mai and I can escape the palace and join you for one day."</p><p>"Thanks, Zuko, that will be great! I thought that would be a nice place for me to take Katara on our first official date."</p><p>Zuko's face twisted in a way that Aang couldn't read. "What?" he asked.</p><p>"I think I'm having one of those villain-in-recovery moments where I can't tell if I'm reacting normally or with too much cynicism or too much ebullience. Part of me wants to roll my eyes at how excited you are right now. Like, haven't you and Katara been on one long date for the past year?"</p><p>"And the other part?"</p><p>"Thinks you two are adorable." Zuko cringed at himself and made another face, while Aang laughed at him. "I don't think I've ever said that word out loud before." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Anyway, I'll have my new assistant make some arrangements for you. But when you go into town, wear a hat." He gestured to his forehead, indicating Aang's arrow. "Best to be incognito for now."</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>"Pack your bags everybody, we're going to the beach!" Aang announced as he entered the sitting room where his friends were gathered. He explained the plan, and they all cheered.</p><p>While the others started chattering about what they'd pack and wondering how soon they could leave, Aang sat down next to Katara. "I thought while we're on Ember Island, you and I could go on a date."</p><p>"The date I promised you?" She smiled coyly. "I thought you might have forgotten."</p><p>"No way." He assured her, grinning. He didn't know how or when he'd ever tell her how he'd thought of her promise while crouching in his ball of rock, baking under Ozai's fire blasts. His terror at the thought of dying without ever getting the chance to spend a romantic evening with Katara had equaled his fear of what his defeat would have meant for the whole world. That was heavy, though, and he wanted things to stay light right now.</p><p>"I'm looking forward to it." she was saying. "Especially because you said it would be the best date in the history of the world. No pressure."</p><p>Instantly, Aang's eyes widened in panic. "What does that mean? The best date in history? I mean, what does it mean to you?" He cursed his overenthusiastic younger self for boasting.</p><p>"I'm sure you'll figure it out," she patted his cheek and left to pack her bags, leaving Aang to spiral.</p><p>____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>It was remarkable how much more fun a day at the beach was when an apocalyptic battle wasn't hanging over your head, they all agreed.</p><p>Sokka's leg was healed enough that he could swim, so he spent hours in the water. For some of the time, Suki joined him, and they swam far enough out that they could pretend it was private, though it wasn't.</p><p>Toph's sand sculptures grew increasingly elaborate. She began to make statues—mostly of herself in triumphant poses, but some of her friends as well.</p><p>Katara worked on perfecting the consistency of icy slush to mix with fruit juices, and the others served as happy taste testers.</p><p>Aang took a nap, spread eagle in the sand, with his feet in the surf and a towel covering the top half of his face. He slept so long that Katara woke him to move when the water came almost up to his shoulders.</p><p>"Is it possible you're still sleeping off some exhaustion from the comet?" She asked, sitting down in the shallow water next to him.</p><p>"Maybe I am," he replied, taking the fruit slush she offered him. "Or from Zuko's meetings. Or maybe I'm storing up some energy for our date."</p><p>"Be careful, you don't want to raise my expectations too much, unless you're sure you can deliver."</p><p>"Can I deliver." He scoffed. "You know who you're talking to, right?"</p><p>"I guess I don't." She played along. "Who am I talking to?"</p><p>"Your boyfriend." He seemed so tickled to be able to use that title, that she used it too just to make him even happier.</p><p>"That's right! You are my boyfriend!" She said it as if she'd just remembered. "My brand new boyfriend who's never been on a date in this life."</p><p>"And you're my new girlfriend who doesn't have any past to compare me to. I'm pretty sure you've never been on a date either."</p><p>"No, I haven't. But you don't understand the way girls dream about these things. We build up some very specific fantasies, and then get really disappointed when our boyfriends can't read our minds. Meanwhile, I'm almost certain that all I have to do is show up and let you kiss me, and you'll be thrilled."</p><p>"Sounds about right." He threw the empty fruit slush cup near their pile of things and froze some water into a board. He stood and offered her his hand. "Wanna surf?"</p><p>_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>"You guys looked like you were having so much fun out there!" Suki exclaimed when Aang and Katara finally came back to shore. "Do you think you could teach me to surf too?"</p><p>"It's actually not that hard when you can control the waves underneath you." Katara answered. "I could try to go behind you and make the waves hold you up rather than wipe you out. It'll be harder for you than it is for me, but I can make it easier for you than it would be if you did it without a water bender to help."</p><p>"That sounds great! Can we go now, or do you need a rest?"</p><p>Katara hesitated, so Aang stepped up. "I just had a great nap, so I'm ready to go. You rest, Katara."</p><p>She smiled at him. "Thanks, sweetie."</p><p>Sokka groaned. "Sweetie?"</p><p>"You better be quiet if you want any more slushies."</p><p>________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>"C'mon out in the water, Toph!" Sokka goaded her.</p><p>"No thanks. I prefer the sand." She ran her fingers over another sculpture, this one of Momo.</p><p>"This is the perfect opportunity for you to finally learn how to swim. We're all here at the beach, there's no one else here, we have all day."</p><p>"Still doesn't make me want to, sorry."</p><p>"No, I'm sorry." All kidding was gone from Sokka's voice, for once. "This is not about what you want, it's about safety. Everybody needs to know how to swim."</p><p>"That sounds like some Water Tribe nonsense."</p><p>"I think we were in the Earth Kingdom when you almost drowned. Don't you remember when Suki had to save you in the Serpent's Pass?"</p><p>Toph cringed. "I have made a concerted effort to forget that ever happened, and I would appreciate it if you would cooperate."</p><p>"Toph, I promise you, I was coming. She was just faster." The blind girl stubbornly refused to respond. "Look, Aang and Suki are out surfing, and Katara's napping in the shade. No one will see you but me."</p><p>"Why do I need to learn to swim? I'm spending the next year traveling with you, Suki, Katara, and Aang. If I'm ever in trouble in the water, one of you will save me."</p><p>Sokka crossed his arms. "That has got to be the most un-Toph thing I have ever heard anybody say. You can't expect me to believe you're actually ok with depending on water benders and nonbenders to keep you from drowning? Just because you don't like water?"</p><p>"Correction: I hate water."</p><p>"So what? Look, I wish we could all stay together forever too, but this year is going to end sometime and we'll each go do our own thing. I just want you to be safe, even if one of us isn't there. Because someday we won't be." He made his voice gentle again. "Just come here. We'll stay in the really shallow water, where you can stand up and feel the sand under your feet any second if you need to."</p><p>"Fine." She stood and held out her hand. Sokka took it and led her into the waves.</p><p>_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Just as Katara woke from her afternoon doze, she saw Suki coming to sit next to her under the tree.</p><p>"How was your nap?"</p><p>"Great." She sat up and stretched. "How was your surfing lesson?"</p><p>"Awesome! Aang's a good teacher."</p><p>"Of course he is. He's had plenty of practice being a student this year. It would be a shame if he didn't pick up any teaching techniques. Although for your sake I hope he was more like me than like Toph." She looked toward the shore. "Where is Toph, anyway? Did she go back to the house?"</p><p>"She's out in the water with Sokka. He's trying to teach her to swim."</p><p>"You're kidding! That's great!"</p><p>"I know! He's such a great guy." Suki sighed.</p><p>"He's a lucky guy." Katara corrected, meaning Suki herself, but the older girl seemed to miss her point.</p><p>"There's something I've been meaning to ask you." Suki looked down. There seemed to be a shadow on her usually sunny attitude, which got Katara's attention. "What happened in the North, with Sokka and that moon princess? That play was the first I heard about anything like that, and when I asked him, he wouldn't say anything."</p><p>Katara didn't know how to explain Sokka's relationship with Yue. She hadn't really understood it. It had been so short, but nevertheless inexplicably intense. She had died in his arms. That seemed so personal and intimate, she felt she couldn't say it, especially not if Sokka had pointedly refused to.</p><p>"Her name was Yue. They went on a couple dates. Even though she was engaged—it was an arranged marriage. She put her duty to her people above everything. She—passed away." Katara looked at her hands. "Beyond that, I don't feel it's really my place to tell you. I'm sorry. You should ask him again sometime." She felt an urge to cheer Suki up and affirm her. "But I will say, if I were the one picking Sokka's girlfriend for him, you are exactly who I'd pick."</p><p>"Oh, thank you!" Suki touched her heart.</p><p>"It's because of you he's no longer a sexist, immature, nutbrained idiot. I'm afraid if you hadn't kicked his butt, he might never have learned to respect women."</p><p>"I'm sure he would have figured it out eventually." Suki replied blithely.</p><p>"I just know that I gave him any number of lectures about equality, and he didn't listen to a single one. But you put him in a dress and show him how strong a woman can be, and suddenly he's this enlightened warrior for women's rights. He's a better man, and a better brother, because of you."</p><p>"He has grown a lot, hasn't he? From when I first met him, to when we got together by the Serpent's Pass, to when we escaped from the Boiling Rock. I'm proud of him."</p><p>"You should be. I know I am."</p><p>There was a pause.</p><p>"She was beautiful, wasn't she?" Suki asked quietly. Katara's heart hurt a little for her.</p><p>"Well, yes, but her beauty was a fragile, expensive kind. Yue would have been useless in a fight. She was brave, I have to give her that, but she wasn't skilled. Of course, that wasn't really her fault. The North is pretty sexist. Until we visited, they wouldn't even teach women water benders to fight. Only healing."</p><p>"Wow. Stories like that make me glad I grew up on Kyoshi Island. Women were expected to be strong and given every opportunity. I had so many great role models."</p><p>"Yeah. It seemed like an amazing place, from the little bit of time we got to spend there. I'm excited to go back."</p><p>"Me too. I'm afraid when we get there for the victory tour, I might not want to leave."</p><p>"That's understandable. It's your home."</p><p>"I don't know what that might mean for Sokka, though. He's really excited about the tour. I don't think he'd want to abandon it."</p><p>"Well, I guess he'll just have to choose. Stay with you, wait for you, or break up. And if he breaks up with you, I might kill him."</p><p>Suki laughed. "Thank you so much, Katara. You made me feel a lot better."</p><p>"Good. You missed Zuko's Circle of Praise, but you heard how we kind of adopted him. I hope you already know you're part of our family too. You're the big sister I always wanted. Aang and Toph and Zuko feel the same. And it's not just because you're with Sokka."</p><p>Tears came to Suki's eyes, and she threw her arms around Katara's shoulders. "What an honor! I've always had my warrior sisters, but our little team is just as special."</p><p>Katara stood up. "Want to come back to the house with me for a minute? I want to grab some more honey berry root juice. It's Toph's favorite flavor. I think she needs a 'Congratulations on your first swimming lesson' slushie."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a review if you like seeing the Gaang relax and bond! And, yes, the date is coming soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16: Confidences and Preparations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 16: Confidences and Preparations</p>
<p>The group of friends spent two days that way, surfing, drinking slushies, and making sand sculptures. The sun and water exhausted them in the best possible way, so that they slept more soundly and restfully than they had in months. Then on the third day, a small airship from the capital landed, carrying Zuko and Mai.</p>
<p>Almost as soon as the couple came off the airship, they were surrounded with demands that they immediately put on swimsuits and join them on the beach.</p>
<p>Sokka insisted on a swimming race with Zuko. "Aang, you fly out as far as you want, and we have to touch your hand and come back. Winner gets the last of Katara's slushies!"</p>
<p>The girls watched from the beach. They cheered a while, until it was clear the boys couldn't hear them anyway.</p>
<p>"I'm so glad you two were able to come." Katara remarked to Mai. She was a little afraid the older girl would feel left out of a group that had formed and bonded without her, and wanted to make her comfortable.</p>
<p>"Me too. Zuko kept talking about all these meetings and planning sessions he needed to lead, but I said to him, your friends are leaving in a few days, and you won't have this opportunity again for quite a while."</p>
<p>Katara was touched. "It's a good thing you're there to make sure he takes care of himself."</p>
<p>"Yeah. He'll run himself into the ground if I let him. I think a little break with you all is just what he needs right now. The other night I could tell that being part of your group has been really good for him. He'd told me some stories about you guys, but I didn't get it until I saw you all together like that. It meant a lot to him."</p>
<p>Katara smiled. "It was a great night." She looked back at the water. "They're coming back!" The girls began cheering again. Katara walked closer to the water and held up the slushie; whoever grabbed it first would be the winner.</p>
<p>It was close. Both boys were strong and fit, but Sokka had to limp the last few steps, which allowed Zuko to overtake him at the last second. He almost spilled the slushie all over Katara as he grabbed it, but she held the icy liquid inside the cup.</p>
<p>"Wow, this is great," he said as he sipped it, grinning at Katara.</p>
<p>"I've had enough of those in the last couple days, I decided to let you have it," Sokka said magnanimously, still catching his breath.</p>
<p>Suki started telling Mai about the surfing lesson Aang had given her, and soon both she and Zuko wanted to try it. Aang went out with Zuko, and Katara took Mai.<br/>--------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>It was surprising how tiring relaxation could be, they realized, after a long afternoon swimming and surfing. The twins had prepared dinner for them, and they all sat down at the big table in the house.</p>
<p>"How are things in the capital?" Katara asked Zuko.</p>
<p>"Making slow progress." Zuko answered. "Some of the changes to the army are moving from discussion stage to the planning stage."</p>
<p>"How many stages are there?" Toph wondered.</p>
<p>"Next there's delegation, organization, implementation, and finally, evaluation."</p>
<p>There was a pause as the others took in just how complicated their friend's life had become.</p>
<p>"I think my mind got numbed with boredom just hearing that." Sokka remarked.</p>
<p>"I wish you could sit with me in these meetings." Zuko smiled at Sokka. "They might end up lasting twice as long, but at least you'd keep me entertained."</p>
<p>"How about the...uh, opposition?" Aang asked uncertainly.</p>
<p>"It seems like each day since my coronation, another important person has made a statement supporting my legitimacy. The major newspaper, too. But there's also a new group that's surfaced. They're calling themselves the New Ozai Society. Their goal is to break my father out of prison and make him Fire Lord again."</p>
<p>"Bunch of power hungry absolutists." Mai spat out, surprising everyone with her vehemence. "They think not being the boss is the same as being a servant. Kind of tells you the kind of boss he was."</p>
<p>"They're not going to be able to do anything. The Royal Police are watching them all the time." Zuko assured her.</p>
<p>"My dad is involved with them." Mai admitted to the others. "He didn't want the new position Zuko offered him. He thought it was an insulting demotion. For some ridiculous reason, he expected to continue to be a colonial governor, even though Bumi kicked him out of Omashu, and the new Fire Lord is planning to liberate the colonies. So we fought and I moved out."</p>
<p>"That must be so hard," Katara said sympathetically.</p>
<p>"It's fine. The palace has its perks." Mai glanced at Zuko, with the corner of her mouth pulled up in a tiny half smile. "But I do miss Tom Tom."</p>
<p>"That was the baby in Omashu, right? He was your little brother?" Sokka asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah. He just turned three."</p>
<p>"You know, we didn't actually kidnap him." Katara felt it was important that Mai know the truth. "He just kind of showed up. Wandered into our camp."</p>
<p>"I believe you. He's always doing stuff like that. Can't keep him in one spot for a minute." She said affectionately. "And it was very mysterious how he just reappeared so suddenly. Like out of thin air." She looked at Aang, as if she had guessed who was responsible for Tom Tom's return.</p>
<p>"Funny how that happened," Aang grinned at her.<br/>_________________________________________________________</p>
<p>After dinner they moved to a bonfire on the beach. They carried blankets and warm drinks. Sokka made a point of gathering fire flakes, fire gummies, mochi, sizzle crisps, and sausages to toast on sticks.</p>
<p>"We just ate, and now we need more snacks?" Suki protested as he loaded her down with more food to carry.</p>
<p>"After swimming all day, I'm starving!" Sokka insisted.</p>
<p>"Wow, he really is always hungry." Mai said, seemingly to herself.</p>
<p>Katara sat down beside the older girl, a little apart from the others, looking at her quizzically. She thought she'd caught her reference. "Did you see The Boy in the Iceberg?"</p>
<p>Mai rolled her eyes. "Yes. Azula made Ty Lee and me come with her to see it on its opening night. She loved it of course. It was one of the last things we did together before I left for the Boiling Rock."</p>
<p>"Did you hate it as much as we did?"</p>
<p>"Well, it was trash, but I doubt I hated it as intensely as you must have. And that's saying something because I'm really good at hating things."</p>
<p>"The point of the whole thing was for people to cheer as Aang and Zuko got killed in the end. It was really disturbing."</p>
<p>"No kidding."</p>
<p>"What was it like for you, seeing yourself on the stage?"</p>
<p>"Meh." She shrugged. "I had a minor role. No lines. It didn't bother me. About half of the parts were well cast, and the other half were terrible."</p>
<p>"What did you think of their Zuko? He said he thought they made him look 'humorless.'"</p>
<p>"The actor was handsome enough, but his hair was out of control. I'm guessing Aang didn't like his portrayal either?"</p>
<p>"That's a severe understatement."</p>
<p>"What about you? They made you into a little sexpot, didn't they?"</p>
<p>Katara was sure she was blushing. "That was not an authentic Southern Water Tribe costume."</p>
<p>"Obviously. But it made me wonder, how many guys did you really hook up with this year?" Mai's tone became gossipy, scandal-seeking. "I counted three in the play, and that doesn't even include your current boyfriend. Did they miss anybody else? King Bumi? The cabbage merchant?"</p>
<p>Katara was somewhat put off by Mai's biting humor, but she decided to take it as a joke rather than getting offended. She forced a laugh. "No, just Aang."</p>
<p>"Really?" Mai raised an eyebrow, and it somehow made Katara want to confide in her. Mai seemed to be implying that she was such a beautiful, mysterious woman who all men found irresistible, that she might have had as many lovers as she desired, with just as many juicy stories to dish to a girlfriend. Her blush deepened.</p>
<p>"Well, with Jet—almost. But that was a mistake."</p>
<p>"They made it look so romantic between you and Zuko. The whole opposites attract thing."</p>
<p>"Well, sometimes opposites repel. Or, they're easier to tolerate in friendship. I think it's more usual—maybe even more healthy-when like attracts like. Hence, my current relationship. And yours."</p>
<p>"Good point. So you really never...?" Katara shook her head. "It's ok if you did. He and I weren't together then. I paid close attention to the timeline." Katara actually believed her. Mai could be plenty threatening when she wanted to be, but, surprisingly, Katara felt that she would have been safe even if she'd had to answer differently.</p>
<p>"No, it was nothing like in the play. Hardly anything was."</p>
<p>"The scene in the play didn't make any sense, but neither did the story Zuko told me. After everything he did to you, you were going to heal his scar, just because he told you about his mom?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I was about to. But it's a good thing I didn't, because I needed that healing water to save Aang instead."</p>
<p>"And then when he showed up and said he wanted to train the Avatar?"</p>
<p>"I threatened his life and gave him the silent treatment for weeks."</p>
<p>"Wow. All right, I believe you. I was just curious to see if you'd say the same thing he did."</p>
<p>"So we passed?"</p>
<p>"Full marks."</p>
<p>The idea that Mai had indulged in some jealous speculation about her and Zuko felt a little ridiculous to her. "It wasn't enough to hear us basically adopt each other as siblings?"</p>
<p>"I mean, yeah, that was reassuring, but sometimes people decide they feel that way after they break up. I just wanted to know what really happened. I'm satisfied now. Sorry to bug you about it."</p>
<p>"I guess I understand. He left you to join us, and if you thought that had anything to do with another girl, that would hurt a lot more."</p>
<p>"Yeah." She admitted quietly. "But, like I said, I'm over it."</p>
<p>"Good. I think you two are really great for each other."</p>
<p>"Thanks. You and baldie too."<br/>________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Early the next morning, Aang and Zuko went to the courtyard to practice their fire bending forms. Zuko called out the steps, but without the fierceness and urgency he'd used a couple of weeks before. Now it looked more meditative than warlike. This was just for fun. The boys genuinely enjoyed exercising alongside a friend who could challenge them to push themselves.</p>
<p>Katara sat on the edge of the courtyard, watching. Mai came out with two cups of tea. She handed one to the younger girl and sat down next to her.</p>
<p>"Nice show," Mai remarked.</p>
<p>"Mm hm" Katara sipped her tea, not taking her eyes off the two shirtless boys, one tall, the other tattooed, both lean, muscular, and glistening with sweat. Their matching but opposite scars made an interesting effect as they moved through the poses.<br/>______________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"Ready for tonight?" Zuko asked Aang as they took a quick swim to cool off after their workout.</p>
<p>"I can't wait," the younger boy grinned. "I just want everything to be perfect."</p>
<p>"Flower delivery this afternoon. Reservations at the best restaurant in town." Zuko ticked off his fingers, some of the arrangements he'd asked his assistant to make for his friends. "There are going to be musicians in the square, so you can dance. End the night with a walk on the beach. Boom. Every girl's perfect date."</p>
<p>"Yeah. It all sounds great. But there's something missing and I'm not sure what."</p>
<p>"You could...practice a little speech about your feelings. I think there are a few books of love poems in the house if you need ideas."</p>
<p>"Canned words from a book?" he scofffed. "Like some old poet could do her justice."</p>
<p>"You two seem pretty serious," Zuko remarked, amused.</p>
<p>"Oh, we are. Well, I am, anyway."</p>
<p>"You don't think she is?" Zuko asked mildly.</p>
<p>"Well, I hope—wait, do you know something I don't? Did she say something to you? About me?"</p>
<p>"I'd be a pretty terrible confidant if I told you, wouldn't I?"</p>
<p>"I guess so," Aang made a discouraged face. His curiosity was burning, but he had to respect Zuko's scrupulously keeping Katara's confidence. Just the fact that she had talked to someone else about him had to mean something, didn't it?</p>
<p>"Oh, also I brought you some clothes. I had a servant look through my old closet. The restaurant is pretty formal, and I don't think your yellow outfit would quite fit in. Or that old school uniform."</p>
<p>"Thanks! I would never have thought of that. You saved me from really embarrassing myself."</p>
<p>"No problem," Zuko sighed. They were clearly done bathing, and he wanted nothing more than to linger here, rather than return to the meetings and reports waiting for him at the palace. "I better get ready to go."</p>
<p>"We'll be back at the palace soon." Aang promised, seeing his friend's low mood.</p>
<p>"Yeah, just in time to take off again." Instantly, Zuko was afraid it came out sounding more bitter than he really felt. If he resented anything, it was his position, not his friends' plans. "Sorry." he added.</p>
<p>"I wish you could come with us."</p>
<p>"Me too. But being Fire Lord isn't about being a teenager with a social life. It's about duty and serving the nation."</p>
<p>"Yeah. It sucks that you have to make those sacrifices. But you're going to do a great job."</p>
<p>"Thanks. I'd better, or it won't be worth it."<br/>______________________________________________________</p>
<p>The whole group accompanied Zuko and Mai to their airship when it was time for them to leave.</p>
<p>"We need to plan out the stops in the victory tour where you can meet up with us. You've got to make some diplomatic visits, right? Places like Ba Sing Se and the North Pole?" Sokka asked hopefully.</p>
<p>"Of course. We haven't had formal diplomatic relations with the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes in decades, so I need to reestablish contact and start talks to build embassies." Zuko explained. "We'll have to keep in touch as your plans solidify. Let me know where you'll be and when, and I'll try to think of an excuse to intercept you. When my domestic responsibilities permit, that is."</p>
<p>"Zuko bought no fewer than five messenger hawks whose sole job will be going back and forth between you all and the palace." Mai told them, which seemed to embarrass him slightly.</p>
<p>They'd see each other again in the palace in just two days, but then the victory tour would launch just a day after that. This felt like the real good-bye in some ways, since they knew the ceremony at the harbor wouldn't allow for hugs all around. They waved at the airship for a while and then went back to the beach.<br/>_____________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"Great badger-mole!" Aang sat down next to Toph, who was putting finishing touches on her sand sculpture.</p>
<p>'I know! Yet another thing I'm awesome at. I think this is going to be my relaxing new hobby."</p>
<p>"You needed a hobby?"</p>
<p>"Well, you can't beat up bad guys and save the world every day. Especially not now that everything's so peaceful."</p>
<p>"You're right. Maybe I'm going to need a hobby too."</p>
<p>"Are you kidding? You just got one. Katara." Toph had a mischievous smile.</p>
<p>"That's a relationship, not a hobby!"</p>
<p>"She takes up your free time and you think she's fun, but nobody else understands why. Sounds like a hobby to me."</p>
<p>"I'm sure someday you'll figure out the difference, Toph. If you're lucky."</p>
<p>"I heard you're taking her to the fanciest place in town tonight."</p>
<p>"Yeah, but it all feels kind of generic to me. I'm still trying to think of something extra we could do...something unique to us..."</p>
<p>"That's obvious, isnt' it?" Toph had that superior tone she got when she thought the other person was acting more blind than she was.</p>
<p>"It must not be or I wouldn't need you to tell me." Aang conceded. That was usually the fastest way to get information out of Toph, just admit defeat.</p>
<p>"You practiced fire bending with Zuko this morning. When was the last time you practiced water bending with Katara?"</p>
<p>Aang was taken aback. "I guess for the coronation. And we went surfing yesterday."</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah. I mean, like, as if you were training. Pushing yourselves to be your best."</p>
<p>"It has been a while," he admitted. "I had to master earth before the eclipse, and fire before the comet. Water kind of got pushed to the side, since I learned it earlier. So you think we should train on our date?"</p>
<p>"Katara is really competitive. She might like it."</p>
<p>"Yeah, she is. What do you suggest?"</p>
<p>"A bending wrestling match like we do. But with water, of course."</p>
<p>"That's a great idea. Can you make sure the others stay off the beach tonight?"</p>
<p>"I have a feeling it might not be safe for us to be on the beach with you two. Not just for the oogieness, but in case of storms, drowning, that kind of thing."</p>
<p>"You might be right. Thanks, Toph."</p>
<p>"Anytime, Twinkletoes." She punched his arm.<br/>___________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"What would you like me to wear tonight?" Katara asked Aang, when the afternoon started winding down, and she felt like she needed to go get ready for their date.</p>
<p>"Um, whatever you want?"</p>
<p>"Well, I don't know what you have planned, so I don't know what's appropriate."</p>
<p>"Oh. Well, do you think you could wear your bathing suit under your clothes, so we could go to the beach?"</p>
<p>"Ok. But what clothes?"</p>
<p>"How about that red dress you used to wear?"</p>
<p>"The one with only one shoulder, that showed my stomach? You liked that one?"</p>
<p>"Um, yeah," He replied, a blush creeping up his neck.</p>
<p>She leaned close and whispered in his ear, "I like your one shoulder outfit too."<br/>___________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara had put on the same red top she'd worn during their time in the Fire Nation earlier in the year, but not the same skirt. Instead of loose pants covered with embroidered panels, she wore a red and gold wrap skirt that came to her ankles, all one piece. She'd found it in one of the house's many closets. The effect was a little more grown up and formal. She was trying to decide what to do with her hair when Suki knocked on her door.</p>
<p>"I have my makeup kit. I wondered if you'd like me to touch you up?"</p>
<p>"Not the full Kyoshi warrior face?"</p>
<p>"Of course not. I was thinking just a little extra color on your lips and eyes."</p>
<p>"Sure, that sounds nice." She sat down and stayed still so that Suki could apply the makeup for her.</p>
<p>"Are you nervous?" Suki asked as she touched Katara's eyelid with a little brush.</p>
<p>"Not really. It's not like we're strangers."</p>
<p>"Excited?"</p>
<p>"A little," she lied.</p>
<p>Suki finished and showed her the mirror. The dark liner around her eyes made them look even bigger, and her mouth looked more sensual with bright color painted on it.</p>
<p>"What do you think? Hair up or down?" Katara asked.</p>
<p>"Hmm. Up is more dressed up, a different look than you usually wear. I think some guys like to see hair down and loose. It makes them want to touch it. So, do you want tonight to be special, or do you want it to be a continuation of everything you both like about your 'normal'?"</p>
<p>Katara thought for a moment. "Special. But an updo would have to be very secure. Aang mentioned going swimming. And is the makeup waterproof?"</p>
<p>"No problem." Suki started grabbing handfuls of hair and securing it with pins and ties. "And yes, it is waterproof. Remember when I jumped into the water to save Toph and came out looking as fresh as ever?" Katara laughed at the memory. "That reminds me," Suki went on. "Sokka and Toph are doing another swimming lesson. So you don't have to worry about whatever he might say when you come down."</p>
<p>"I guess that's good."</p>
<p>After a few minutes of work, Suki showed Katara the mirror again. With her hair piled on the top of her head, she looked much taller, and her neck seemed to go on forever. She barely recognized the woman in the mirror. She wondered if she'd gone too far.</p>
<p>Suki covered her mouth in excitement at seeing the full effect of her handiwork. "You look so pretty! Can I watch when he sees you? I'll kind of stay in the background."</p>
<p>Katara came down the steps to the front room and saw a giant vase of flowers with legs. Then a bald head peeked out from the side of the flowers. She took the vase from Aang's hands and set it on the table.</p>
<p>"Hi," she said shyly. He looked good in an outfit she hadn't seen before. It was black with red trim, and fit his chest and shoulders snugly.</p>
<p>"Hi," he repeated, dazed. It looked like he'd forgotten how to breathe.</p>
<p>"Thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful." They were heart's blood lilies, white with splashes of red.</p>
<p>"Beautiful," he parroted absently. Both embarrassed and gratified, she turned away to give him some space to gather himself.</p>
<p>"Suki, can you help me? I'd like to put some of these in my hair."</p>
<p>Suki came forward and picked three blooms from the vase. She cut the stems and pinned them across the top of Katara's head.</p>
<p>While Katara surveyed the additions to her hairstyle in the mirror by the door, Suki found a hat and handed it to Aang. "Have a good time, you two."</p>
<p>"I'm sure we will," Katara replied, taking Aang's hand and lacing their fingers together. The hat had a brim that shaded his eyes. It looked kind of dashing and mysterious. They stepped out the door together and their evening began.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: I took the idea of the New Ozai Society from the graphic novel Smoke and Shadow, as well as Mai's father's involvement. However, in my fic, Mai and Zuko don't break up like they do in The Promise, so I had her move in with him instead of her aunt's flower shop.</p>
<p>Next chapter: the big date! Don't worry, Aang quickly gets over his initial reaction to Katara's beauty and is fully functional, even articulate and romantic.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 17: First Date</p><p>Aang and Katara walked from the vacation house into town. She felt a little self-conscious because she could feel his eyes on her. She ducked her head to hide her blush.</p><p>"What?" he asked.</p><p>"You keep looking at me."</p><p>"Sorry if I'm staring. I think it's the makeup. I like it, but I'm also trying to see the real you underneath."</p><p>"It's too much, isn't it?" she fretted. "I shouldn't have let Suki make me up like this. I should have left my hair down."</p><p>"No, no, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry. It's nice to see you like this. I like every version of you."</p><p>"I just wanted tonight to be special."</p><p>"It's already special. I'm with you." he reassured her sweetly. "Like you said before, all you really had to do was show up."</p><p>"And let you kiss me?" She finished flirtaciously, repeating her words from a few days earlier.</p><p>"Well, you never have to do that. But if you ever want to, then yeah, I'm thrilled."</p><p>"And if I kiss back? Or kiss you first?"</p><p>"Even better."</p><p>"I'll keep that in mind. You like it, then?" she asked shyly, indicating her outfit.</p><p>"'Like' is not the word." He seemed to have acclimated to her elegant appearance and fully recovered his ability to speak articulately. "You are absolutely gorgeous, Katara. Tonight and always." She felt herself blushing, even glowing, with satisfaction.</p><p>"You don't look so bad yourself. Where'd you get that suit?"</p><p>"Zuko."</p><p>"That was nice of him."</p><p>"I know. He's covering our dinner too. I'd treat you but I don't have any money."</p><p>"That's ok. I asked you on this date, technically, so I should treat. But I don't have money either. Good thing our rich friend is supporting us for the next year."</p><p>"Yeah. Saving the world doesn't exactly pay a salary. I mean, I don't need much, but I also don't really want to depend on Zuko forever."</p><p>"I wonder what we're going to do about that." She mused. "You know, in the long term."</p><p>"I don't know. I don't think I can charge people for saving them."</p><p>"I guess I could always be a healer."</p><p>"You'd be great at that. I could build stuff with earth bending, I guess."</p><p>"You could travel the world teaching people about nonviolence and the lost philosophies of the Air Nomads."</p><p>"That might be cool. But, again, I'd do that for free."</p><p>She realized it was more an issue of where they'd live than what they'd do, and decided not to spoil the evening with any questions that might cause disagreement. "I guess we have some time to decide."</p><p>"It's a good problem to have."</p><p>She only had to think back a little to put the discussion in perspective. "No joke. We get to grow up and try to make a living. Who knew that would even be possible a month ago?"</p><p>"I just feel so grateful. The war is over, we all survived, and now I'm out on a date with the girl of my dreams."</p><p>Was he going to do this all night, say the sweetest, most flattering things with total sincerity? How could she possibly respond to that? He was going to make her even more flustered than he had been when she first came down, all dressed up. She took a deep breath to regain her composure, then gathered her courage to be just as honest.</p><p>"I feel lucky too. We finally have the time and space and...mental energy to figure things out. Between us."</p><p>"I don't need to figure anything out, but I'm glad you have the time you need."</p><p>"Thank you for that. For being patient with me."</p><p>"Once I got some good advice and got my head straight, it was easy. I could have waited a lot longer if you'd needed me to."</p><p>"Really? How long? Years?"</p><p>"Yeah," he shrugged. "Although I might have called in your promise of a date if you had shown interest in another guy. I wouldn't have been able to let you just walk away from me without at least trying to stop you."</p><p>"What other guy? You're the one with a fan club."</p><p>"A fan club?"</p><p>"The girls in the zoo in Ba Sing Se? And I saw a notice when I was reading the newspaper in Iroh's shop—there really is an actual club being formed in your honor."</p><p>He looked mystified. "That seems pretty pointless. What would they do?"</p><p>"Just sit around and talk about how great you are. And how much they want to be in my shoes right now." Katara couldn't help feeling a little smug about that idea, and it probably came out in her voice.</p><p>"Well, I'm officially taken. Maybe after we make a few public appearances together they'll give up. Obviously, no other girl could ever compete with you."</p><p>"Public appearances?' She did not think she liked the sound of that.</p><p>"Just things like Zuko's coronation, that medal ceremony at the Earth King's palace, the parties we're going to have on the victory tour. Avatar stuff."</p><p>"I guess you are a public figure. That's kind of weird to think about."</p><p>"Yeah," he agreed, looking a little worried. "And it's weird to think that might have an effect on you. And on us. You didn't sign up for that."</p><p>"Neither did you."</p><p>"Yeah, but you have a choice."</p><p>She shrugged. "I've made my choice. I'm pretty sure the good is going to outweigh the bad."</p><p>"I'll make sure of that." he promised.</p><p>They had arrived at the restaurant. A big maroon-painted arch adorned the doorway, making it look impressive, even intimidating.</p><p>"May I help you?" The man in the front said in a snobby voice when he saw the young avatar and his girlfriend. It was as if he assumed they were just kids who had no business there.</p><p>"We have a reservation. We're the guests of the Fire Lord." Aang replied.</p><p>The man's eyebrows shot up. "Right this way." He led them to a table in the middle of the room. The other diners were all older, very well dressed. Aang and Katara sat down and picked up their menus.</p><p>Their waiter came quickly with water glasses and took their orders. Katara wasn't sure if it was because they wanted to provide extra good service, or because they wanted to rush them through their meal. She felt eyes on her, and when she looked around, the other people in the room either looked away, or glared at her.</p><p>"I feel like they're all looking at us." she whispered to Aang.</p><p>"Well, I do look kind of dumb wearing a hat indoors. And we are definitely the youngest in the room." he answered reasonably.</p><p>"Yeah, and I'm the darkest. Probably the only member of the Water Tribe they've ever seen."</p><p>Aang remembered Zuko's words about the prejudice and hate in the hearts of so many of his people. This was the same town where that propaganda play celebrating his demise had received a standing ovation. "Let's not let it get to us if they're ignorant." He took her hand from across the table. He lowered his chin. "Don't worry about them. It's just you and me right now."</p><p>She couldn't help smiling, as the other diners faded into the background. "That's right, it is just us. It seems like that never happens. We're always surrounded by the others."</p><p>"I think I kind of like having you all to myself," Aang admitted.</p><p>"I'm the one who has to share you. With your other two bending teachers, with my brother, with the world."</p><p>"Well, not tonight. I'm all yours." He made those eyes at her again, but she resisted their pull this time. Instead of getting flustered, she challenged him.</p><p>"Really? Even if the New Ozai Society came in here and took the whole restaurant hostage?"</p><p>"We'd save everyone together, and then we'd leave and continue our date elsewhere. And try again for a perfect evening later." He said blithely, as if it were completely simple.</p><p>She was doubtful and tempted to push him. Her own taste for adventure meant that she could tolerate quite a lot of those kinds of unpleasant surprises. But there could definitely come a point where even she got frustrated with constant interruptions, with never getting all of his attention for long. How many spoiled evenings would it take before they gave up on having fun together like a normal couple? Would she ever come first, even before his duty as Avatar? But, again, she chose to put their good time above her desire to have these kinds of questions settled. It seemed silly to worry about potential disasters in the middle of such a great evening. She was liable to ruin the date herself, to create her own catastrophe purely by anticipating one.</p><p>She squeezed his hand. "Well, tonight is perfect so far. Do you think the universe will let us have one night without anyone attacking us or needing to be saved?"</p><p>"If anyone's earned it, we have."</p><p>Their food arrived at that moment, and they focused on tasting it. The restaurant's reputation was deserved, it seemed. It was one of those places where portions were somewhat small because the food was arranged in fancy shapes, with plenty of empty space on the plate to make it look extra striking. Nevertheless, Aang's vegetable and noodle dish was delicious, with exactly the right amount of spicy heat, and Katara's fish was flaky and savory.</p><p>He put some of his red peppers on her plate. "You've got to try these."</p><p>"Mmm," she nodded appreciatively. "Taste that," she pushed her soup bowl toward him. For a couple minutes they concentrated on their meals.</p><p>"Maybe we should make a point of getting away from the others every once in a while." Katara suggested. "We each got to have a little field trip with Zuko, but I don't think you and I have done anything like that on our own...not in a long time, anyway."</p><p>Aang grinned widely, barely able to contain his excitement. "That would be awesome! A couple's adventure! I'd love to go on a trip with just you and Appa. Or even just getting into a little mischief the others don't know about. Like when you were the painted lady."</p><p>"Yeah," she smiled. "It meant a lot to me that you went along with that. At first I was afraid you were going to lecture me like Sokka did."</p><p>"Helping that village was the right thing to do. And it was fun. Sneaking around, keeping a secret from Sokka. It seems like the only alone time we had recently was when we practiced water bending."</p><p>"I kind of made sure of that, between the eclipse and the comet." she confessed.</p><p>"I did wonder if you were avoiding me. I'm glad those times are over."</p><p>"Me too."</p><p>They finished their plates happily, and split a fruit tart for dessert.</p><p>After they left the restaurant, they walked through the streets holding hands. It was not a very big town; they found themselves passing the theater where they'd seen The Boy in the Iceberg, and Katara stopped, surprised by a sign.</p><p>"Oh, look!" she pointed. "It's closed!"</p><p>Aang smirked. "Good riddance. What a terrible play."</p><p>"They must have had to shut it down. The ending they predicted didn't happen."</p><p>"If they hadn't closed it themselves, I bet Zuko would have closed it for them."</p><p>They kept walking, turning the corner around the side of the theater.</p><p>Aang stopped and looked up. "Is that the balcony?" He asked softly.</p><p>She followed his eyes. "I think so." The place where they'd had that harrowing conversation, that aborted kiss.</p><p>Aang turned to her and stated adamantly, "I'm glad it turned out like this. Waiting to get together until after the war was over."</p><p>Katara was surprised. "It's kind of a relief to hear you say that."</p><p>"I was so desperate and scared." He admitted. "I wanted you to be my lifeline, and yes, a distraction. Like you said, it wasn't the right time. Now, we're...free. This way feels so much healthier. It's a better foundation."</p><p>"I think that's true. But I'm also sorry I couldn't give you that lifeline when you needed it."</p><p>He shook his head. "When you promised me this date, that was all I really needed. That dumb play just messed with my head and made me afraid that you'd already written me off. That I wasn't even in the running."</p><p>She was amazed to hear how accurately Zuko had read Aang's mind. "No, you were always in the running." She assured him. "I was just assuming the race would be longer."</p><p>"I know that now. If I'd thought about it more, I might have known it then too. I might have noticed that you never kissed Sokka on the cheek."</p><p>She laughed. "I guess not. Just you." She gave him a peck just to the right of the corner of his mouth, then turned away to continue their walk through town.</p><p>Another block, and they came to an open square. The sun had gone down and the lanterns were lit, illuminating the plaza. A couple musicians were playing.</p><p>"Want to dance?" Aang asked.</p><p>"Right here? In the middle of the square?"</p><p>"Why not?" He took her in his arms and started stepping to the music. Her feet followed almost automatically. She was sure she was blushing. He held up his arm and turned her under it, making her skirt swirl around her ankles. Their movements were fluid and light, their bodies lithe and acrobatic. They were so good at reading and anticipating each other's steps that it looked as if they'd practiced, though they hadn't.</p><p>People were slowing down to watch them. They clapped and pointed. Some little kids started to move to the music, and an older couple joined hands and started trying to imitate their steps.</p><p>"What if I throw you?" Aang asked, after the music changed to a faster song.</p><p>"Um, ok," she answered, with a little trepidation.</p><p>At the next swell of music, he picked her up by the waist and tossed her into the air so that she spiraled like a top, three, no, four revolutions, coming down almost halfway across the square. Somehow, even from that distance, he slowed down her landing so that it felt effortless for her. They traveled back to each other, leaping and flipping, and before the next measure of the song was over, he'd swept her off her feet and thrown her straight up. She spun in the air, horizontal, floating just over his head for an instant, then fell into his arms, facedown, so that her head stopped only inches from the ground. Somehow her body didn't even feel any instinctive fear, her trust in him was so complete. Next, he twirled her above him again, only a turn and a half and not as high this time, so that she came up facing him, and her hands locked around his neck. Then she was back on her toes, and they were stepping in unison without missing a single beat. She felt graceful and dynamic. It was as if he were showing them all how beautiful she was.</p><p>Katara could tell the song was ending, and decided to take the lead. At the last moment of the song, she swung Aang around so that she was holding him above the ground in a dip. They both burst into laughter and came up with their faces so close together that before they knew it they were kissing, with no idea which one of them had started it. It was a firm, short kiss, just their smiles pressed together.</p><p>Katara opened her eyes and saw his blue arrow. "Your hat!" she cried.</p><p>"Oh!" His hand flew to his bare head. He bent down and picked it up, jamming it back on his head. "Oops."</p><p>She noticed the crowd murmuring around them. "Maybe we should leave," she suggested nervously.</p><p>"How about the beach?"</p><p>"Yeah, let's go." She took his hand. They walked quickly, and made a couple turns down alleys. It seemed like no one followed them, thankfully. Soon they were descending the stone stairs to the shore.</p><p>She turned away from Aang to get undressed. Her red top worked well enough for swimming. All she had to do was take off her skirt and shoes. When she turned back around, he was still working on the many buttons of his jacket.</p><p>"I thought we could do something only you and I can do." Something about watching him reveal his chest little by little as he looked right into her eyes and talked to her made her mouth go dry.</p><p>She swallowed, intrigued. "What's that?"</p><p>"A water bending wrestling match. I do something like it with Toph sometimes. You try to pin the other bender. Best of five."</p><p>"I can imagine how that would work with earth bending. It might not be so easy with water." Katara said doubtfully.</p><p>"Good thing we're the best two water benders in the world!" he yelled, tossing off his jacket and racing off into the waves. Katara ran after. For a few minutes they circled each other, shooting jets of water into each others' faces and laughing. Then she decided to take the offensive. She pushed a wave at him, so that he was upright in the water, then followed with ice, freezing him in the wave so that only his face showed. She slid close to taunt him.</p><p>"That's one for me," she said, stroking his cheek. Almost immediately, he melted the ice so they both fell down into the water.</p><p>They swam in the waves, pushing them toward each other, until she felt herself being lifted out of the water. She was held tight by air currents just above the waves, her arms pinned to her sides, and suddenly she saw Aang floating just above her, hands clasped casually behind his head. "No air bending! Not fair!" she yelled into the wind.</p><p>"You didn't say that ahead of time, so I'll take the point, but no more air bending from here on out." He flipped them in the air, so that she was looking down on him, then the air released them both and they fell tumbling into the water. He swam down and she pursued him, both surrounding their heads with air bubbles. Suddenly he disappeared from in front of her and she felt an impact from behind. Aang had his arm around her waist from behind, pushing them both deeper toward the ocean floor. She managed to flip herself around and grab his wrist, but she couldn't reverse their momentum. She tried to look at his face, but it was distorted by the water and their bubbles. The amount of air in her bubble was not infinite; she'd be scared if anyone but Aang were holding her under the water like this. They turned in circles going deeper into the water, until finally they could go no deeper. When they hit the floor, Aang was on the bottom. The impact pushed their bubbles together so that they merged for an instant, then pulled away again. She felt the rock move under Aang, helping him come out from under her, and before she knew it, she was on her back, with stone bracelets fastening her to the ocean floor.</p><p>She pushed against them furiously and made eye contact with Aang, who just smiled and held up his fingers: two on one hand and one on the other. He was ahead. Then the rock bracelets dissolved while Katara watched a rock projectile shoot Aang toward the surface. She mustered a current to push herself after him.</p><p>"No earth bending!" She yelled when she got to the surface, but Aang only laughed. It enraged her, and she swirled her arms over her head to create a giant whirlpool, then pulled the water up into the air until it built into a minor hurricane. She rose in the eye of the storm, balancing on a stream shooting straight up onto her feet, while Aang swirled in rapid circles around her, caught in the storm.</p><p>"Your point!" He yelled. Instantly, she released her hold on the water. It, and they, crashed down, and a massive wave brought them to the shore. They both crawled onto the beach, gasping for air. After a minute, they looked at each other and grinned. Katara got to her feet as quickly as possible, and crouched in a water bending posture, arms guarded. Aang stood with his hands on his knees, still catching his breath. She was surprised he wasn't in a defensive stance, and hesitated.</p><p>"Tied. No more bending," he called. "Just us." Then he ran toward her. Katara only had time to take a couple steps forward, crouch low and brace for impact. She got under him and flipped him over her shoulders. While he was still down, he swept out her legs and brought her to the sand with him.</p><p>From there, they rolled around on the sand, battling for dominance. They had never had so much physical contact, especially not when they were only wearing their bathing suits, but now all their inhibitions were gone in the exhilarating fervor of competition. She knew they wouldn't hurt each other, so her only concern was the hit her pride would take if she allowed him to pin her. He seemed to be everywhere, and he was strong, but so was she. She tried to lock her arms around Aang's shoulders from behind, and then he tried to keep her legs still by wrapping his around them. When she almost got herself standing upright again, he tackled her, hugging her around her thighs, and she crashed back down. Somehow she rolled out from under him, and surprised him by pushing him down instead.</p><p>She slammed his wrists to the sand, straddling his waist, and panted for breath. Her point, her match. Their eyes met as they realized the intimacy of the position they were in. They held contact, understanding how vulnerable and open they were to each other at that moment, and neither backed down, but both accepted it in a matter-of-fact way that somehow kept it from being embarrassing. Finally, at the moment before that look would have become a dare, Katara remembered that she was on top, so she had to be the one to move away first. She tore her eyes away and rolled to the side. She pulled her knees up and sat beside him, both facing the waves. From lying on his back, Aang pulled up just enough to lean back on his elbows.</p><p>"Fun, right?" He broke the silence and lightened the tone again.</p><p>"You've clearly had more practice than me. And you cheated!"</p><p>"You still won."</p><p>"You let me win."</p><p>"You pinned me three times!"</p><p>"You could have fought me off if you tried."</p><p>"Katara, I couldn't even win a point off you without using air or earth bending."</p><p>Katara narrowed her eyes at him and considered. She was much more competitive than he was, and he knew it. He had no need to win or dominate anyone, and he genuinely approached these kinds of friendly competitions hoping only to have a good time, and perhaps to enjoy some spectacular bending from both participants. If he had held back, it had only been to make it more fun for her. She shouldn't let her pride get in the way of that.</p><p>"Fine. Next time, only waterbending."</p><p>"Next time?"</p><p>"On our next date."</p><p>Aang grinned. "I just wanted to be sure. You only promised me one date."</p><p>"Oh, I think I'm going to need several more dates."</p><p>"Several?"</p><p>"To figure out how I feel about you." She kept her voice light, coy, and flirtatious, to keep from triggering any lingering insecurities he might have.</p><p>"Did you figure anything out tonight?" He had a hopeful smile, but there was a hint of vulnerability in his voice. He wanted reassurance, and it made sense, after what she'd put him through.</p><p>"I figured out a lot of stuff I already knew. Like that it's nice to get away from the others for a while, just the two of us. That you're a great dancer. That I never feel more alive and more powerful than when I'm water bending with you. I figured out that I want to kiss you right now." He leaned in, and their lips met. She tilted her head to the side and opened her mouth to him. For the first time, their tongues touched, sending a thrill down her spine, and causing her hands to reach out for him. When she touched the bare skin of his sides, she felt a sharp intake of breath from him, which she took as a warning. She pulled her hands and lips away, and rested her forehead against his as they caught their breath.</p><p>"Wow," he whispered.</p><p>"Yeah," she agreed, pulling back to smile at him.</p><p>After a moment just grinning at each other, Aang stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and let him pull her up. They gathered their clothes and shoes, and Aang blew the water and sand off them. Katara pulled the water out of her hair. The flowers were gone, but the style was mostly intact, just a little poofier, with some tendrils escaping. Katara put her skirt back on, and Aang shrugged on his jacket, but left it open. Their hands came together as they started walking toward the house.</p><p>"I promised you the best date in the history of the world. Did I deliver?" he asked, his voice hopeful.</p><p>"I guess I wouldn't know. You've been around a bit longer than I have. It was certainly the best date in my history. First too. That's something you can't say, Mr. Avatar. Surely one of your past lives had an even better date than this at some point."</p><p>"It doesn't work that way. Past lives don't count in this kind of thing."</p><p>"Well, that's reassuring. I don't have to try to live up to some lover you had a thousand years ago. Some beautiful queen or exotic nature spirit."</p><p>"Of course not. That's ridiculous. A thousand years ago I wasn't me. I don't have any of those memories, and I don't want them. But even if I did, I'm sure you'd measure up." He paused and looked at her quizzically. "You haven't really been worried about that, have you?"</p><p>"I haven't lost sleep over it, but I've thought about it," she admitted.</p><p>"Katara, you could never let me down or disappoint me. And to be honest, I wasn't really worried I'd disappoint you tonight either."</p><p>"What? After I tried so hard to make you nervous, going on about how you'd raised my expectations?"</p><p>"I can tell flirting when I see it." They had arrived at the door to her room, and he turned to face her. "But more than that, I just knew that—unless we got interrupted by a vengeful spirit or a team of assassins or something, this evening—any evening with you-would be amazing. Because neither of us could possibly be disappointed if you're feeling even a fraction of what I am. And lately you've been giving me some really good reasons to hope that you are."</p><p>The implication that he was content to be the less beloved, that he assumed her feelings were weaker, made her ache a little because it seemed a consequence of her indecision. At some point she'd have to disabuse him of that notion. But for now, she decided to poke gentle fun at the idea and stick with the coy and playful tone she'd set. "I just might be. Feeling a fraction of what you are." She narrowed her eyes at him, assessing. "Half."</p><p>"Whoa, that much?" His eyes lit up and he put his hands on his head, playing at being dumbfounded by his luck.</p><p>"Maybe even a little more than that. Can I give you another reason to hope?" She stepped forward and put her hands on his waist.</p><p>"Oh, please." Aang took her face in his hands and kissed her again, opening his mouth almost immediately, nearly overwhelming her. He was eager and unpracticed; she put her hand on his chest and pulled away a bit to slow him down, but without breaking contact. He seemed to understand, and backed off a little, then she gradually let him in again, as she discovered the way she liked it, and showed him. Though his inexpert lips and tongue sometimes pressed hers a bit too hard, she couldn't help feeling gratified by his earnest enthusiasm. He followed her signals well, and started to give some of his own, which were basically just "more." They had just finished negotiating depth and pace, and were starting to really settle in, when there was a sound in the hall. Aang turned away from her to see what it was. Suki was closing a door. She made a face to say, "You caught me and I caught you," then gestured shh.</p><p>"Sokka's room?" he verified.</p><p>"Yep. Goodnight, Aang. I had a great time."</p><p>"Me too."</p><p>"I could tell."</p><p>He shrugged. "Hey, you showed up, and you let me kiss you. You even kissed back."</p><p>"So you're thrilled?"</p><p>"Beyond thrilled. I think this is the happiest I've ever been. And I'm a pretty happy guy."</p><p>"You are." It seemed like they couldn't stop smiling at each other. Inexplicably, Katara found herself asking for even more from the boy who'd already given her so much. "Promise me one thing?"</p><p>"Anything."</p><p>"Tonight was only our best date yet."</p><p>"I promise."</p><p>They might just stand there grinning at each other like idiots all night if she didn't put a stop to it, she realized. "We do have to say goodnight." she whispered.</p><p>"Goodnight, Katara."</p><p>She kissed him on the cheek and closed her door behind her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: What did you think? Did you enjoy that date as much as Aang and Katara did? (Is that even possible?) Leave me a review if you liked it!</p><p>I've run out of mostly-complete chapters, so my posting is going to slow down, but I promise I'm not giving up on this fic. I have BIG PLANS! Please follow and subscribe so that you can get an email update when I post a new chapter!</p><p>If you just can't wait for the next chapter, leave me a review or send me a personal message with a request, and I'll send you a preview of a coming chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: So that last chapter might have made a good ending for this fic, but I've got more planned. Consider this chapter the beginning of Part Two.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 18: The Royal Trophy Room</p><p>Aang and Katara flew with their friends from Ember Island to the palace the day after their date. They had fewer than 24 hours before they would be taking off for the South Pole, so they were surprised the Fire Lord had time to do more with them than eat dinner. But Zuko had requested that Aang, Katara, and Sokka meet him in the hall of tapestries as soon as they arrived. He had come from an important state meeting and was wearing one of his big formal robes with the intimidating, pointy shoulders. "I wanted to show you something." he said mysteriously.</p><p>He led them down decorated hallways until they came to a tall set of double doors. He paused and looked at each of them before opening the doors for them and letting them in first.</p><p>The room was big enough to fit two or three sky bison comfortably. The walls were lined with paintings, pottery, musical instruments, tapestries, furs, weapons, armor, and contraptions they could not immediately identify. In the center of the room was a jumble of display cases and large items that could not be mounted on walls.</p><p>"Whoa," Sokka marveled, taking in the giant room and its abundance of awesome stuff.</p><p>"Zuko, what are all of these things?" Katara asked, wondering at the sheer volume of wealth and beauty contained in a single room.</p><p>"These are all of the treasures the Fire Nation stole from other countries during the wars of the past hundred years."</p><p>"Why are you showing us this?" Righteous anger simmered under the young Avatar's voice.</p><p>Katara took Aang's hand to help him center himself, then directed herself to the young Fire Lord. "What's your plan for these things, Zuko?"</p><p>"I want to give it all back." The young Fire Lord replied. Katara felt Aang's tension lessen, but not quite disappear. "I was planning to make it part of the reparations tour. But, as you can tell, it's going to be quite a job. First I need to bring some scholars in here to figure out what this stuff is, and where it's from. My people aren't known for being great record keepers. A lot of it needs to be restored or repaired by experts. And this is just the trophy room, where the most spectacular artifacts ended up, the things that somebody thought looked especially exotic or impressive. There are two more warehouses full of boxed up art, and lots of books and scrolls. Some of those pieces probably have more cultural significance than the ones in here."</p><p>"It looks like you've already packed up some of it." Katara pointed to a few crates in a corner.</p><p>Zuko snickered. "That's the stuff Azula brought home from the palace at Ba Sing Se. She never bothered to unpack it. I'm sending it back with the ambassador next week. That's going to be the easiest part of this project. Maybe it will win me some points with the Earth King. Anyway, I brought you three here because I wanted to see if you could find something that belongs to your people, to bring it back to them, or just to keep. You probably don't have room or time to take all of it, but I wanted to give you the chance to take a few things back where they should be."</p><p>They looked through the glass cases, the hangings, paintings, pottery. Sokka ran around touching every single thing, trying on hats and armor. Aang found lots of Air Nomad artifacts he could identify.</p><p>"They're all yours, as far as I'm concerned." Zuko assured him.</p><p>"Of course they are." Aang snapped, exasperated. "Zuko, what is this about? Making you feel less guilty? Clearing out your storage room? Just giving presents to your friends? What are you thinking?"</p><p>The young ruler's face fell and he almost looked hurt for a second, but he swallowed that feeling and answered thoughtfully. "I want it to be about justice. Yes, it does ease my guilt a little, but the point is to give you a choice, to let you decide what to do with the things that rightfully belong to you, when the choice was taken away from your people before. Was it a bad idea?"</p><p>Aang sighed. "It wasn't a bad idea, but it's going to take a lot of sensitivity to do this right. Each one of these pieces has a history that you obviously have no clue about. You're going to need all the help you can get from those scholars. Honestly, it's not easy for me to see these things here like this, out of their proper context, all jumbled together." Aang admitted, pointing at an elaborately molded bronze item. "This is not a goblet, it's a bell. It's something sacred the monks used in rituals, but here it's displayed upside down, right next to a jeweled chamber pot from the Earth Kingdom."</p><p>"Oh, shit, I'm sorry," Zuko looked mortified. He picked up the bell to turn it rightside up, but then realized he didn't want to put it down again next to the chamber pot. So he picked that up too, and looked around for a different place for it, settling on the Ba Sing Se crates. Then he rubbed the shelf with his sleeve and put the bell back where it had been, but correctly, looking sideways at Aang for approval, and wiping the hand that had touched the chamber pot on his robes.</p><p>"It's ok, Zuko. I know you're trying. Your ancestors really put us all in a mess, didn't they." He turned to the Air Nomad artifacts. "These things belong in the Air Temples, but those are empty right now. If we moved them, they could be damaged by weather or animals. Or stolen again."</p><p>"If you want, I'll keep it all safe for you here until you come back from your trip, and then you can decide what to do with it."</p><p>"That's fine. Just—don't make it about you. The reparations tour, the repatriation of these art pieces, whatever happens with the colonies. Start by listening."</p><p>"That's good advice. Thanks." Zuko paused, and gestured to Sokka and Katara, who were in another part of the room, looking through the piles of sparkling trinkets. "What about those two? If I offer them some of this stuff, does that mean I'm playing the magnanimous ruler, trying to buy their continued friendship with my country's ill-gotten plunder?"</p><p>"I don't think they'll take anything unless you offer it, even though it's more theirs than yours." Aang paused. "And you know you don't have to give us anything. We'd be your friends if you were as poor as we are."</p><p>Against the wall, between a stuffed platypus bear and a large marble figure of some old Earth Kingdom queen, they found an imposing life-size statue of a polar bear dog.</p><p>"Wow, I've never seen one of these in real life!" Sokka exclaimed. "It's carved from the bones of a giant whale walrus. That's kind of a lost art from the south."</p><p>"Well, it clearly doesn't belong here." Zuko responded. "What do you think of taking it home with you and putting it in the middle of your village square?" He looked to Aang for approval and got a nod. "I was told that some of the most beautiful art of the Water Tribes were ice sculptures. Of course, those wouldn't have survived transportation, so the Fire Nation soldiers simply broke them, to our enduring shame. Those masterpieces can't be replaced, but this noble creature can be taken back to its home." Sokka and Katara tried to thank him, but he wouldn't let them. They continued walking around the room, musing at the strange assortment of art and oddities.</p><p>"Look at this beadwork!" Katara exclaimed, picking up a belt with blue, purple, and white patterns. "This is the best example of Southern bead embroidery I've ever seen. I think the designs have to do with water bending, but some of them I don't know."</p><p>"Would you like to keep it?" Zuko offered.</p><p>"I don't know, is that right? The Fire Nation didn't take it from me." She answered uncomfortably.</p><p>"There's no way to find out who it really belonged to. You have as much claim to it as anyone from your Tribe. Certainly more than I have."</p><p>"It would look lovely on you." Aang encouraged. She smiled at the two boys and rolled it up.</p><p>"This broadsword looks like a Water Tribe weapon." Aang pointed to a shining silver blade with blue trim on the handle.</p><p>"Yeah, it does. What do you think, Katara? Southern or Northern?"</p><p>"Southern," she answered thoughtfully. "These symbols here. And the shade of blue."</p><p>"Do you want it, Sokka?" Zuko asked. The other boy had heard their talk from across the room and joined them.</p><p>"I do need a new sword," Sokka rubbed his chin, considering. "But this is too pretty to really use in battle. It's so ancient."</p><p>"Don't you see all the knicks and scratches on it?" Zuko pointed out. "It was not purely a ceremonial piece. But if you wanted it to be, it could be. For all those public appearances you're going to be making. Hopefully we're all done fighting battles."</p><p>Sokka picked up the blade and its decorated scabbard. They had seen almost everything in the large chamber by now.</p><p>"Look at this platter!" Katara exclaimed, upon finding the piece in the one section of the room they hadn't explored yet. "It's from Naujaat. That's the village my grandfather's mother was from. That design wasn't used anywhere else." She paused and spoke more quietly. "It's not there anymore. There was a raid years ago. There weren't enough survivors to keep the village going, so they dispersed."</p><p>"I'm sorry." Zuko said softly. "May I send it to your grandmother?"</p><p>"Yes, I think it would mean a lot to her." She smiled at Zuko and squeezed his arm. He called servants to pack up the platter and the statue and have them taken to Hakoda's ships on the docks.</p><p>"Is it dinnertime yet?" Sokka asked. "Did your royal chef make more of those moo-sow steaks? Or the fried dumplings?"</p><p>"Both, I believe," Zuko grinned, leading them to the door.</p><p>"And after dinner, a little flight around the city?" Aang whispered to Katara. She blushed and took his hand.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: This is a kind of sensitive and political chapter, touching on the meaning of reparations and how to do them right. I hope I've approached the topic in the right way, and I'm totally open to criticism if I've made any missteps here. I'm definitely working on my education about issues of race and colonialism, and certainly don't know everything. I'd love to hear from any readers, especially BIPOC, about my approach to this topic, especially if I got it all wrong. Obviously the world of Avatar is not immediately analogous to our real world, but our stories can help us explore complicated ideas. That was my intention, anyway.</p><p>I'm going to try to post weekly from now on. Look for new chapters on Fridays or Saturdays. Click follow to get updates.</p><p>As always, thanks for reading!</p><p>Next chapter: The Avatar Victory Tour begins!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. The Victory Tour Begins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 19: The Victory Tour Begins</p>
<p>The Avatar Victory Tour took off ceremonially early the next morning. Aang and his friends mounted Appa in the palace courtyard and flew to the harbor, where they observed the rededication of the ships from the air. Hakoda and Zuko gave speeches and embraced, then the chief walked the gangplank onto his new vessel. The Fire Lord and Mai waved from the dock until they couldn't see their friends anymore.</p>
<p>Aang flew from Appa's head to the saddle, landing with his legs splayed on either side of Katara. "Let the Avatar victory tour officially begin!" He cried triumphantly.</p>
<p>The girls cheered.</p>
<p>"I have a feeling this is going to be much better than team Avatar's first trip around the world." Toph remarked. "After all, I'll be here for the whole ride."</p>
<p>"Well, in addition to the early shortage of sassy earth bending masters, there was some stuff about that year that was seriously not fun." Aang pointed out.</p>
<p>"But now, there's no ponytail Prince Zuko stalking us, no Admiral Zhao or Azula terrorizing us." Katara listed the villains they'd redeemed, evaded, and defeated.</p>
<p>"No climactic battle hanging over our heads." Aang put in gratefully.</p>
<p>"No scrimping, scavenging, or scamming for food." Katara was especially thankful for the work and worry Zuko's generosity was going to spare her.</p>
<p>"And before, I just wanted to kiss Katara all the time, and now I actually get to do it!" The air bender squeezed his girlfriend around the middle.</p>
<p>"Aw, sweetie," Katara leaned to the side and they shared a soft peck.</p>
<p>Suki chimed in with her own "Aw."</p>
<p>"You think it's cute, I think it's pathetic." Sokka said dismissively.</p>
<p>"Hey!" Katara objected.</p>
<p>"Huh?" Aang was confused and taken aback.</p>
<p>"What? I'm not wrong. His lovesick act was pitiful." Sokka asserted. "Watching this guy nurse a hopeless crush for a year was downright painful."</p>
<p>"It couldn't have been all that hopeless if we're dating now, could it?" Aang retorted. "Besides, you're the one who told me to wait and let her make a move. If you had better advice than that, why didn't you tell me earlier?"</p>
<p>"Your problem wasn't that you needed advice. It was that you were going after a girl who was not interested, and way out of your league."</p>
<p>"I'm interested now!" Katara snapped.</p>
<p>Sokka rolled his eyes. "Yeah, after he saved the world. Now that he literally has a fan club."</p>
<p>"I am not some fangirl." Katara had true menace in her voice. If she'd had her water pouch with her, she would have already flicked open the lid and started making threatening shapes with the water. "I have been with Aang every step of the way. Don't you dare belittle our relationship."</p>
<p>"You keep acting like this is the greatest love story of all time. You're just children!"</p>
<p>"I'm older than you, Sokka." Aang replied mildly.</p>
<p>"I don't think that's the card you want to play here, buddy." The taller boy chuckled. "If you say you're 113, that makes you a dirty old man dating a teenager."</p>
<p>"He's got you there, Twinkletoes!" Toph cracked up.</p>
<p>"And to think I was glad I got stuck in an iceberg because it meant I got to meet you!" Aang yelled. "And, yes, my amazing girlfriend!"</p>
<p>"Stop pretending this is some epic romance." Sokka spat. "You just imprinted on the first girl you saw, like a confused little turtle-duck."</p>
<p>By this time, Sokka and Aang were both standing up on Appa's back, their posture threatening.</p>
<p>Katara got between them. "Break it up, you two."</p>
<p>"Stop acting like our mom!" Sokka yelled at his sister. Then he paused and snickered. "He probably likes it. Tie my shoe, Katara! Feed me, Katara! Sleep with me, Katara, I had a nightmare!" The whiny baby voice he put on made the insults even more hurtful.</p>
<p>Everyone stared at Sokka in shocked silence for a minute.</p>
<p>Aang moved to Appa's head and turned the sky bison to the side to descend.</p>
<p>Toph was the first to speak up. "Snoozles, I get as annoyed as you do by sensing their racing hearts and hearing their smoochies, but that was just mean. I'd kick you off myself if Aang didn't have the guts, but I think for once he does."</p>
<p>Appa landed on the ship and Sokka jumped down before anyone could order him to.</p>
<p>Aang was about to take off again, when Suki cried, "Wait!" As she climbed down, she whispered to Katara, "I'll talk to him."</p>
<p>"Hey, me too," said Toph, and she slid down Appa's tail.</p>
<p>"Really, Toph?" Aang asked. He looked a little hurt.</p>
<p>"Sorry, Twinkletoes. I'm on your side this time, but you know I don't really like being in the air. A metal ship isn't as comfortable as good solid ground, but it's better than hurtling through empty space. No offense, Appa." She patted the sky bison's side.</p>
<p>Aang and Katara looked at each other, dumbfounded and abandoned. For a second, she thought he was afraid that she would jump down as well.</p>
<p>"See you at lunch." Katara said to Toph, and turned away from her friends on the boat.</p>
<p>When Appa reached his cruising altitude, Aang climbed back into the saddle next to his girlfriend.</p>
<p>"Well, that was a great way to start our big trip around the world." she remarked sarcastically.</p>
<p>"Yeah. This sucks." Aang's knees were drawn up, and he looked sadder than she'd seen him since before the comet. She wondered if there was a part of him that had believed Sokka's insinuations.</p>
<p>Katara scooted closer to her boyfriend. "You know he's wrong, right? About basically everything he said?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know," he conceded, still somewhat dejected.</p>
<p>"He made it seem like I only wanted to be with you because you suddenly became a hero and a celebrity. Tell me you know that's not true."</p>
<p>"Of course. It was great how you defended us. For a second I thought you might hit him. He just knows us so well, he can strike right where it hurts." Aang looked down. "I always thought you were out of my league."</p>
<p>His dispirited tone made her heart hurt, and she took his hand. "Shouldn't I get to decide that? I think we're exactly in the same league, and always have been. If anything, you're out of my league now, O Savior of the Earth Kingdom." She tried to lighten his mood and make a joke of it all. "Maybe I should be an Avatar fangirl. I could wear a shirt with your face on it and lead the convention. I'm sure the other fangirls would be interested to know what a great kisser you are. Actually, it would probably be mean of me to tease them like that." He still wasn't quite cheered up. Katara nudged his shoulder with hers. "The other night you were saying you were glad it happened between us the way it did."</p>
<p>"Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't let him twist our story and make me pathetic." He smiled brightly at her. "I actually do think it's the greatest love story of all time. The beginning of it, anyway."</p>
<p>When he said things like that, it took her breath away. She took a moment to recover.</p>
<p>"I didn't know Sokka gave you advice about me." she prodded.</p>
<p>"Yeah. After the stupid play. It was really good advice." Aang admitted. "But maybe he thought it would take a lot longer to pay off than it did."</p>
<p>"He thought I'd keep you waiting for years?"</p>
<p>"Probably. I did too, for a while."</p>
<p>"Well, if it was Sokka's goal to break us up, then making sure that we had lots of time alone up here was a really dumb way to do it." she pointed out flirtatiously. "I can't imagine what we could possibly do up here all by ourselves. Do you have any ideas?"</p>
<p>She reached for his face, and began trailing kisses along his cheek and jaw. When she nibbled his earlobe a little, he gasped and seized her. Then his lips were on hers and they were flying.<br/>
________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>When Aang and Katara landed on Hakoda's ship for lunch, Sokka came right over to them, his head down in shame.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry." he told his sister and best friend. "I shouldn't have said any of that stuff. I know I crossed a line. Several lines. It's just—look. Aang, you're like a brother to me. And now you're kissing on my sister. Can't you see why I'd think that's gross?"</p>
<p>"Ok. I understand that." Aang replied, as diplomatically as possible. "But you've also got to understand that it doesn't feel that way to us."</p>
<p>"You're the one who said to him, we're your family now." Sokka accused Katara.</p>
<p>She shrugged. "Maybe I didn't know it at the time, but this might have been exactly what I meant. I need you to answer me honestly, Sokka. Is that all there was to this morning's blow up? What else is going on with you?"</p>
<p>Sokka took a deep breath. "Look, for a long time it was just the three of us. You two always had your own connection, but it was...under the surface. Now it's all up in my face, and I just feel...inessential. Irrelevant. It's like you're so wrapped up in each other, you don't need or want the rest of us around anymore. I just don't want to be pushed to the side. And Suki and Toph too. Maybe especially Toph. With you two paired off, it's upset the whole team dynamic." He sighed, and suddenly looked really sad. "And I already miss my fire bro, and honestly, this whole tour is just delaying the inevitable: the breakup of team Avatar. I can't stop you guys from growing up, but I just want us all to be kids together for a while."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry if we've made you feel that way. Maybe we have been kind of caught up in each other and oblivious to you, and the others." Katara admitted.</p>
<p>"Like when you two skipped our victory tour planning session last night just to fly around on your glider?" Sokka crossed his arms and glowered at them.</p>
<p>"You're right, we totally forgot!" Aang smacked himself in the forehead. "I'm sorry, Sokka!"</p>
<p>"You know you're really important to us, Sokka." Katara told her brother.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know. Anyway, maybe it will be good for all of us if we can just give each other a little space right now. You can get all this out of your system far away from the rest of us. I won't be riding on Appa anymore, until we leave the South Pole. Dad made me captain of the second ship."</p>
<p>"That's wonderful, Sokka!" Katara exclaimed.</p>
<p>"Well, Bato told him how you guys helped me pass the ice-dodging test, and he said that meant I could handle it." Sokka modestly shared his honor with them.</p>
<p>"Congratulations!" Aang said. He exchanged a quick glance with Katara, who seemed to have made the same calculation he had. "But, uh, I'm still going to have to take Appa up for his exercise."</p>
<p>"And he's going to need some company." Katara put in.</p>
<p>"So we won't be able to hang out with you on the ship all day." Aang finished her thought.</p>
<p>"We'll miss you." Katara fibbed. "It's not the same up there without you."</p>
<p>"Don't bullshit me, you two. You can barely contain your excitement at the thought of making out for hours in the clouds." Sokka closed his eyes and shuddered.</p>
<p>Katara and Aang were both blushing, and determinedly avoiding each other's eyes. It was as good as an acknowledgement that Sokka was right.</p>
<p>"We're ok, then?" Katara asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah, we're fine. Come here, you lovebirds." Sokka hugged them both, one under each arm. "Now it's time to eat!"</p>
<p>It was probably the best—certainly the freshest—meal of the journey, with bread baked that morning, and fruit straight from the capital's markets, not a single thing from a can or sack. After lunch the group of teens sat around on the deck, talking and joking. Some of the sailors joined them and asked to hear the stories of the final battles, and they had to oblige. After the story circle broke up, Aang and Katara dropped the others on Sokka's ship so that he could take command, and then took Appa back up and flew above the ships until dinner.</p>
<p>When night fell, Aang used Appa to ferry Katara, Suki, and Toph from Sokka's ship back to Hakoda's. Katara had rolled her eyes when she heard that her father had assigned sleeping quarters this way: with boys and girls on two entirely different ships. The other arrangements made more sense to her: Bato's ship held most of the cargo and luggage, while Sokka's needed extra space for Appa to sleep on board.</p>
<p>The next morning, Aang and Katara held the first regatta. Suki flew ahead on Appa to make a kind of finish line. The waterbenders created strong currents to push their ship ahead of the other's, while the rest of the crew tried to make sure their ship was making the most of their bender's propulsion. Sokka's ship had an advantage because it was lighter without Appa on board. As the journey went on, their speed improved as Sokka and Toph worked together on engineering improvements to the ship. The problem was that on the open sea it was hard to tell who won. Only a couple times was the winner clear, and that was when Aang admitted to using air bending too. After the race, he and Katara had to fly back to the third ship on the glider and work together to help it catch up.</p>
<p>By the time Bato's ship was near the others, it would be time for lunch. The young people shared their meals on Sokka's ship, and then in the afternoon, Aang and Katara took off on Appa. After all, the sky bison couldn't just sit on the ship all day.</p>
<p>Years later, Katara and Aang looked back on that part of the victory tour as the time when they grew comfortable with each other physically and taught each other to kiss. It was amazing how many different kinds of kisses there could be. They experimented with all variations of speed, area, position, firmness, rhythm, voice, mood, duration, intensity. They developed a style, a grammar for this new language. They kissed until their jaws ached and the skin around their mouths felt raw and numb. By the time they reached the South Pole, they both felt like they'd mastered a new kind of bending.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note:</p>
<p>I did steal one line from the graphic novel The Search: "I always wanted to kiss Katara and now I actually get to do it."</p>
<p>Next chapter: What that last paragraph summed up, I wrote a few random scenes. Basically Aang and Katara discovering the joys of making out while flying on Appa. As sexy as you can get without removing clothes.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20: Scenes from Appa's Back</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: These are some snippets of scenes from Aang and Katara's afternoons alone on Appa's back on the way to the South Pole.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"There's something I've always wanted to do, since the day we met," Aang confided.</p>
<p>"What's that?" Katara was curious.</p>
<p>They sat cross-legged, facing each other, knee to knee. He reached up and touched the beads at her hairline with his fingertips, then followed the tendrils to where they were fastened behind her head. "There. That was it." They both laughed a little at the childlike wonder of the gesture, and at its finally coming true.</p>
<p>"Can I try something?" She touched the tip of the arrow on his forehead with both forefingers, then traced the lines around his scalp to his collar. Then she picked up one of his hands and outlined the arrow there, following the line up his forearm to his sleeve. Then she did the same with the other hand. While they were both looking at his hands in hers, she impulsively brought his hand to her lips and kissed the arrow. The gesture moved him so much, he said her name and turned his hand to cup her face, the better to guide his lips to hers. He moved his fingers into her hair as he deepened the kiss, and then kept stroking her hair down her back after she broke away to catch her breath.</p>
<p>"I have an idea." She turned around, unfastening the clasps that bound her hair, so that it was totally loose. "Want to learn how to braid hair?"</p>
<p>__________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"Is it ok if I say I really like kissing you?" Aang asked.</p>
<p>"It's ok if you say that." Katara answered coyly. "Is it ok if I say that?"</p>
<p>"It's ok if you say that." He waited.</p>
<p>"I really like kissing you too." she repeated.</p>
<p>"That is such a relief to hear!" he exclaimed. "I was so afraid I had bad breath or poor technique or too much slobber!"</p>
<p>"No, all of that is fine." She laughed. "Although I think both of our technique is improving with practice." She took a deep breath. "But if you're talking about the night of the play-it wasn't a bad kiss or anything. It was me. I was just unsure and not ready."</p>
<p>"I know, and that's ok!" Aang assured her. "I was wrong to push myself on you. I put my insecurity over your comfort, and put unfair pressure on you."</p>
<p>"You're being way too hard on yourself! At the time I was more mad at myself for not being able to give you what you wanted, or even to give you a straight answer, than I was at you for wanting me."</p>
<p>"I told myself I was helping you make up your mind, but I should have just listened to you instead. I never want to push you like that again." He was uncharacteristically serious, all of a sudden. "I really want you to know, if you ever don't want to kiss or anything, it's ok, it won't bother me at all. I try to pay attention, so if you're not into it we can stop, but I also want you to feel totally comfortable putting on the brakes for any reason."</p>
<p>"Thanks for saying that." Katara replied, a little baffled that he'd felt the need to be so explicit about something she took so completely for granted. "But I wasn't worried about that at all. I trust you. I figured we would take things slowly, since we are so young. And you know, it could just as easily go the other way too. I could be the one pushing you and making you uncomfortable."</p>
<p>The idea sounded crazy and somewhat thrilling to Aang. He couldn't imagine ever wanting to turn her down or slow her down, any touch from her being anything but enthusiastically welcome. "I trust you too. And yeah, taking things slowly sounds good."<br/>__________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"Would you rather go penguin sledding or glider flying?" Katara asked, continuing their game.</p>
<p>"Oh, that's hard. I think penguin sledding, but only because it's a novelty for me. If I lived on the South Pole, I would probably pick the glider. Would you rather live in Ba Sing Se, or the Fire Nation capital?"</p>
<p>"Huh. It's weird, but I think I'd say the Fire Nation. It's closer to the beach, and I was really starting to like their food. Plus, you know, Zuko. And I prefer to be far from Lake Laogai and the crystal catacombs. Would you rather fight Koh the face stealer or the Unagi?"</p>
<p>"The Unagi, easy. Koh is too creepy." Aang shuddered. "Would you rather fight Mai or Toph?"</p>
<p>"Mai. Toph can be terrifying. Would you rather kiss me, or die?"</p>
<p>"Well, obviously I'd rather kiss you than die." He answered quickly, then groaned, while she laughed at him. "Ugh. The cave!" He covered his face in exaggerated shame. "Have you ever said or done something so dumb and awkward that it just keeps coming back in your head months later, and you keep thinking about all the things you should have said instead?"</p>
<p>Katara thought for a moment, then cringed. "Maybe when I made a hat for Jet."</p>
<p>Aang laughed at the memory. "It was a really ugly hat, but I liked it."</p>
<p>"So what is it you would have said in the cave if you'd had months to think about it?" she wondered.</p>
<p>"I would have swept you into a dip and said, baby, our love is gonna light up this dark cave like fireworks." She cracked up at his fake suave voice. "Or even just: Yep." He nodded vigorously, his eyes wide and falsely guileless. "Yep. Great idea. Let's kiss. Even that would have been so much better. It was like my brain didn't know what to do! Of course I wanted to kiss you, but I couldn't let you know I wanted to, because then you'd know I liked you, and that would be too embarrassing."</p>
<p>"Um, sorry, but I already knew."</p>
<p>"Ugh, really? When did you know?"</p>
<p>"Maybe when you made me that necklace."</p>
<p>"I guess I wasn't all that subtle."</p>
<p>"It was sweet. And I like that about you. Your openness. The way you don't hold back." She found herself trying to put into words the quality of Aang's that attracted her the most. "The simple, matter-of-fact way you show your friends you care. The way you...give me...so much. Yourself." She trailed off, embarrassed that words were failing her.</p>
<p>He touched her face, bringing her close for a kiss, which seemed a perfect demonstration of that generosity of his that she'd just tried to describe. She placed her hand on top of his, holding his palm to her cheek. His lips pressed hers with uncomplicated sincerity, until she became so replete with gratitude that she practically whimpered. It was too much; she tore her lips away and hugged him tight.</p>
<p>"I'd rather kiss you than die too," Katara joked, to keep herself from getting weepy.</p>
<p>"I'd rather kiss you than anything." Aang pulled away from her hug just enough to grin at her and continue the joke. "Eat. Sleep. Fly. Breathe."</p>
<p>"Breathing is pretty important. Good thing you have a nose, so you can breathe and kiss at the same time."</p>
<p>"Wow, is that how it works? That sounds difficult. I think I need you to show me."</p>
<p>______________________________________________________</p>
<p>"I like that sound you make," Katara revealed shyly.</p>
<p>"I didn't know I was making a sound."</p>
<p>She thought a second, looking for a comparison. "It's a little like what Momo does when you scratch him in just the right spot."</p>
<p>"Well, you did say I'm a sweet little guy, just like Momo."</p>
<p>"I said that?" She winced, realizing now what that must have felt like for him. "Oh. I'm sorry."</p>
<p>"It's ok." Aang's eyes twinkled at her mischievously. "I'll be your sweet little guy if you keep doing that thing, and I'll keep making that sound."</p>
<p>"Deal."</p>
<p>_______________________________________________</p>
<p>"Close your eyes. I want to try something."</p>
<p>Katara obeyed and waited. She felt a sensation on her cheek that she'd never felt before. It was like—focused wind, small puffs of air that somehow gave tiny pinches to her skin. Gentle and soft. No contact, though she could tell Aang was close, his lips less than an inch from her cheek. The feeling traveled around her face: her temple, forehead, the tip of her nose, just over her parted lips.</p>
<p>"How are you doing that?" she breathed.</p>
<p>"I'm just kind of—blowing, and then bending the air with my mouth—so that the air itself is kissing you."</p>
<p>_____________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"There's a flow to it," Katara whispered. "Sliding back and forth between us. Like when we practice the figure 8 water bending form. Right around you, left around me, again, and again." Her lips demonstrated. "Infinite."</p>
<p>_____________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"It's like a new form of meditation," Aang murmured wonderingly, between kisses. "Totally focused on the present, mind utterly blank, communing with the spirits. Well, just one spirit." He looked into her bottomless blue eyes. "Yours."</p>
<p>_______________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>It was almost time to come down for dinner. Aang turned away from Katara and started to move to Appa's head when she stopped him.</p>
<p>"I—uh—left a mark." She touched a purple splotch behind Aang's ear. "Does it hurt?"</p>
<p>He laughed. "You know I enjoyed it. Do you-" He pushed her hair aside. "You've got one too." He looked at the other side. "No, three. Sorry."</p>
<p>"Don't you dare apologize." They shared a knowing smirk.</p>
<p>He rubbed the back of his head, anticipating embarrassment. "Well, um, we probably don't want anyone else to see..."</p>
<p>"Don't worry, I'll heal it." She pulled her water out. "Show me where mine are." He touched each spot. She couldn't quite heal them completely—it wasn't as easy to work on herself, on a part of her body she couldn't see. But between her hair and darker skin tone, the marks were inconspicuous enough.</p>
<p>"Your turn." She began working with the water on the bruise on Aang's neck. His head fell to the side and he groaned.</p>
<p>"How is it possible that this feels even better than your mouth?"</p>
<p>___________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara was somewhat surprised he hadn't said it already, but she was also a little glad, because she wasn't sure how she would respond.</p>
<p>She thought back to what she'd told Zuko, that she knew that she loved Aang as a friend, but wasn't sure if she was in love with him. Was that still true? Clearly she did have romantic feelings for him. She thought that was probably enough to allow her to answer truthfully that she loved him too, if put to the question. Maybe she'd know for sure how she felt when she heard him say it.</p>
<p>Was this what love felt like? If this was love, if it never got any bigger or better than this, she wouldn't be disappointed, because this was amazing. But at the same time, she felt sure that it would get bigger and better, because didn't it grow each day, with each kiss? Would she ever be able to say she was thoroughly in love with him, or would she always be falling? Sometimes she ruminated on the question while caressing his lips with hers. She focused on that accumulating emotion, on making it swell like a wave, growing her love from a trickle to a flood. She wanted to fall harder, faster, to catch up with him.</p>
<p>She thought she might be in the process of falling in love with him. Surely he'd be satisfied with that answer. She could almost taste his delight. Maybe she did know what she would say.</p>
<p>Again, she was just making it too complicated.</p>
<p>Again, she was grateful he wasn't pushing.</p>
<p>She tried to show him how she felt, not only with kisses, but with compliments, and little acts of service, like offering healing massages, or packing his favorite snacks for their afternoons on Appa's back. He didn't seem to be suffering from not hearing those words from her.</p>
<p>She concluded that there was no rush. The words would come when they came. They were so young, and had their whole lives to explore these feelings, though they seemed so endless that she was starting to wonder if that would be long enough. She could always just wait until he said it first. Surely it would be soon.</p>
<p>She would simply continue offering herself, in words and in his arms, and he'd be happy. She certainly was.</p>
<p>__________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Aang had come so close to saying the words before they were even together—when leaving Ba Sing Se to meet the guru, on the day of the eclipse, when he'd just kissed her instead, in dreams. But now that such declarations finally seemed permissible, he surprised himself by not making one.</p>
<p>Most of all, it was because he didn't want to pressure her. Was hearing unwanted words really any different from enduring an unwelcome kiss? He could tell her that it was ok if she didn't return his love, but it would still make her feel guilty and obligated, and he wanted her to feel truly, totally free.</p>
<p>And also, yes, he had to admit that it would hurt if she didn't say it back. He knew he could handle that hurt, but he still didn't want to put himself through it unnecessarily, and was a little afraid it might put him back in that desperate, insecure place.</p>
<p>Of course, the worst case scenario was that she'd get completely scared off, tell him he was moving too fast, it was too serious, it was over. That seemed unlikely, judging from the way she responded to him lately, but even a small risk of such disaster was too much.</p>
<p>So, like the air bender he was, he talked around it, as he'd always done, referring vaguely to 'how I feel about you," using oblique, indirect language that did not demand a response, that could even go unnoticed if she wasn't paying attention. It was apt to just slip out unintentionally sometime: they were the only words in his head as he kissed her for hours.</p>
<p>He would never deny his feelings. If she or anyone asked, he'd admit it. He'd basically invited her to ask at least once, and she hadn't taken the bait. He told himself that withholding those three specific words wasn't dishonest, just reserved. He wasn't really a reserved person, but maybe she needed him to be, for now. He could express his love in other words, other ways.</p>
<p>He felt loved when they were together. He thought she did too. He tried to make sure of that.</p>
<p>It was enough.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Leave me a review if you enjoyed this chapter! Subscribe for updates on Fridays.</p>
<p>Next chapter: Aang and Katara have a hard conversation about a difficult experience from their past.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21: Unpacking Baggage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were only about three more days out from the South Pole, Hakoda's navigator estimated. The daily regattas had shortened the usual travel time by about a fourth. It was getting much colder; Katara had to wear her parka during their afternoon rides on Appa, and Aang had switched to a long-sleeved outfit. They brought a quilt up too, in case it got so cold they needed to cuddle under it.</p><p>"I can't wait to get to your village." Aang enthused, settling next to her on the saddle, after Appa had started cruising. "I'm looking forward to spending time with your people, getting to know your family and culture. That reminds me, what are the traditional Southern Water Tribe customs for courtship that we told your dad we would follow?"</p><p>She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I guess we really do have to talk about this, don't we."</p><p>"I just don't want to make a big mistake without knowing it."</p><p>"Yeah, I understand." She took a deep breath. "Fine, here are Chief Hakoda's rules for dating. No sex. That's the big one. Clothes stay on. No sleeping in the same bed. Or even laying down together. No being alone in the same room after dark. And remember, at the South Pole, for several months of the year, nights last up to 18 hours, and it's too cold to spend much time outdoors."</p><p>"Is kissing allowed?" Aang asked. That was his biggest concern. Complying with a prohibition on kissing would not be remotely practicable.</p><p>"Yes. But that's about it."</p><p>He shrugged. "Well, we'd already agreed to take things slowly anyway. And the funny thing is, I think we've mostly followed those rules without knowing it all along. We slept near each other outdoors, but never in the same room, unless Sokka was there too, and then it was usually just a barn or a cave."</p><p>She gave him a funny look. "I was just thinking how we've already broken all of those rules. Except the big one, of course."</p><p>"Well, waterbending practice..." He admitted with a smirk.</p><p>She returned his knowing look, thinking of his little bathing suit. "Yeah. Hard to do with clothes on."</p><p>"But I'm not remembering a time when we slept..." He trailed off, confused.</p><p>"It was when you were unconscious."</p><p>"Oh."</p><p>"I used to lay down next to you sometimes." She looked down. "Some nights it was the only way I could fall asleep, with my hand on your chest. I told myself If I could feel you breathing, then I would automatically wake up if I felt you stop. Although I was so tired, I might have slept through it. And I probably wouldn't have known what to do if you had stopped."</p><p>"Now I'm really mad at myself for sleeping through all that." He tried to lighten the tone, but didn't succeed.</p><p>"And I kissed you a couple times." She confessed, looking away, her voice soft. "I thought it might wake you up, like in a story."</p><p>"I wish that had worked. I don't understand why it didn't. I would have thought, if anything would have brought me back, that would have been it." He paused, trying to remember. "Did I ever thank you for the way you took care of me then?"</p><p>"Sort of. You acknowledged it. I knew you were grateful. When you woke up, you were just so upset about everyone thinking you were dead, that kind of had all your attention."</p><p>"Wow." He was floored by how thoroughly he'd disregarded her, and at the very time when she'd done so much for him. "I was a big jerk. I'm sorry, that was really selfish of me." It was not enough of an apology, not even close.</p><p>"You were traumatized. We all were."</p><p>"That's no excuse. I should have—I should have—" Aang looked around as if the clouds would help him complete his thought. "I can't even think of anything big enough I could have done to thank you. I owe you my life. I owe you everything."</p><p>She looked down. His earnestness was too much for her. "I mean, I was trying to save myself too. I knew the whole world was depending on you, and I knew how much it would hurt me if I lost you. I was the only one who knew anything about healing, the only one I trusted to take care of you. I just did what I had to."</p><p>"Don't minimize what you did," he insisted. "It was a huge deal. I was out for weeks, and you kept me alive. You kept me in this world."</p><p>"I don't want to talk about it anymore."</p><p>"It's like there's this whole part of our relationship that I wasn't there for." He realized. "I need to understand what happened and what it was like for you. We have to talk about it at some point, don't we?"</p><p>"No, we really don't." Katara answered firmly.</p><p>"Katara-"</p><p>She cut him off. "Can you bring me down to my dad's boat?" Her voice and face were blank.</p><p>Aang stared back at her for a long moment, until he thought if he didn't do as she asked, she would just jump into the sea and water bend herself onto the ship. He didn't want to create a scene, so he nodded and moved to Appa's head to steer him down.</p><p>________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>It was useless. There was no way he'd be able to sleep. Aang couldn't stop thinking about Katara shutting him out, refusing to talk, the cold, uncompromising way she had silently insisted on ending their flight early. He shouldn't have tried to make her talk about something she didn't want to talk about. She would tell him when she was ready, and if it took years, that was fine. But he needed to apologize for pushing her if he was going to get any sleep at all.</p><p>He went to the deck of the ship and dove into the water, parting it so that it didn't even make a splash. He swam across to Hakoda's ship, pushing himself with a current. Then he bent the water into a pillar, elevating him onto the deck. There was only one man on night watch, and he was on the opposite side of the ship. Aang blew his clothes dry and went down into the cabin. He knew which room was Katara's from a tour they'd done at the beginning of the voyage. Her door was unlocked.</p><p>She sat up in bed as soon as he opened the door. "Aang?"</p><p>"Yeah. I couldn't sleep."</p><p>"Me neither."</p><p>He sat down on the bed next to her. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for pushing you to talk about when I was unconscious. It's ok if you're not ready. Obviously it was a really hard time for you."</p><p>"No, you were right." She sighed. "I'm sorry I shut down like that. We do have to talk about it sometime, and since I don't think I'm ever going to feel really ready, it might as well be now."</p><p>"Ok." There was a pause as neither one knew exactly how to begin. Aang didn't know what to ask, and Katara didn't know what he wanted to know. Words did not seem like enough. "What if you show me what it was like?" he proposed.</p><p>"You mean like reenact it? Pretend you're unconscious now?"</p><p>"I guess so."</p><p>She paused. "Ok. Fine." She stood up and flicked the blankets and sheets to the bottom of the bed. "Lay down. You have to be totally limp."</p><p>He lay on the bed. It was still warm from her body. He tried to relax and pretend to be asleep. She moved his arms to his sides and sat down beside him.</p><p>"You can keep your shirt on now, but I guess you know that back then you were shirtless all the time. Except for bandages. You woke up that way." Katara crossed one of his arms over his chest, then pushed him away from her by the shoulder. "I had to roll you to your side so I could get to your back to work on healing you." She touched the center of his back, where his scar was. After a moment like that, she let him shift onto his back again.</p><p>"I had to move your limbs so you wouldn't get stiff." She moved each arm in circles, working the elbow and wrist joints. Then each leg, stretching them in every direction, massaging the muscles. She even flexed his fingers and toes for him. It was an involved process, and took a while.</p><p>She was slipping into a different state of mind, he could tell. Her movements were matter-of-fact, efficient, almost brisk, but not without some gentleness. She was utterly comfortable with his body as an object, he realized. There was an intimacy in the way she touched him, but one he felt oddly absent from. She knew his body and how it worked, but he hadn't been there when she had gained that knowledge. It was almost like finding out that someone had learned all his secrets from spying on him. It would have felt wrong and humiliating, except that it was his best friend, and they were secrets he would have gladly shared with her anyway, and she had used them to save him.</p><p>"How often did you do this?" Aang asked.</p><p>"Two or three times a day."</p><p>"I had to prop you up with pillows to feed you." She demonstrated, putting her arm around his shoulders to pull him upright. He remembered to relax his neck muscles, which made his head bob to the side, so that she had to adjust him again. "Broth or milk by the spoonful. Sometimes at first it would run down your chin so I had to close your mouth and massage your neck until you swallowed. After a while I figured out how to waterbend it just far enough down your throat so it would go down." She demonstrated with a little water from her basin. He thought it would make him gag, but it didn't.</p><p>She pulled out the pillows so that he was flat on his back again. "When I slept next to you, it was like this." She lay on her side, her body close enough to his arm to feel her heat, but without touching. She set her hand flat in the center of his chest, and they both breathed there for a few moments. Slowly, he felt her relax, and he did too. It would have been easy for them both to fall asleep there, but Aang knew that was not a good idea if he didn't want Katara's father or brother to catch him in her room in the morning.</p><p>He turned his head to look at her, so close beside him on the pillow, her eyes closed. "What about when you kissed me?"</p><p>She opened her eyes. "Are you sure?"</p><p>"Yeah, why not?"</p><p>She sat up and then leaned down over him, hands on either side of his shoulders, her hair falling to one side and brushing his cheek.</p><p>"Eyes closed." She reminded him.</p><p>Her kiss was three seconds of silky, pillowy softness. His bottom lip between hers, slight pressure and a quick release of air. Exactly the kind of sweet, chaste kiss that might have woken an enchanted sleeper in a story. He opened his eyes and looked at her, imagining waking up to the sight of her leaning over him like this. If only it had happened that way. He could feel a smile starting, and he was about to say what he was thinking, when she looked away and cut him off.</p><p>"That wasn't the only time I kissed you. The other one was different. Remember, you can't respond."</p><p>Aang shut his eyes again and waited. He heard her take a deep breath. She put one hand behind his head and pushed her mouth firmly against his. Four, five times she worked her taut lips over and around his slack ones, each time a little more forcefully. She caught his top lip between hers and pulled on it. Their teeth bumped together awkwardly. He could feel her growing frustration and desperation, which created a matching alarm in him. She was trying to shock him into consciousness, she was searching for him inside his frozen body. It was a struggle to keep himself still, as he could feel her emotions becoming heightened, and he longed to hold her and reassure her. But he knew his job was to remain unresponsive; that was how she had asked him to be here for her now. He anchored himself in his trust for her.</p><p>Suddenly she stopped and turned away from him, curling herself into a ball. "I'm sorry." Her shoulders were trembling as if she might be crying.</p><p>Hearing her apologize made him ache. He knew it was a violation, kissing someone who could not consent, but he didn't feel violated. He just felt sad, seeing how his injury and infirmity had affected her, was still affecting her.</p><p>He sat up and wrapped his arms around her as she stayed in her ball. "It's ok," he whispered. He made soothing sounds and stroked her hair. After a few minutes, she uncurled her legs and returned the hug, still hiding her face from him.</p><p>He felt responsible for upsetting her so much. "I'm sorry for pushing you to talk about this."</p><p>"No, that wasn't it." Katara finally pulled away to look at him. "You were right. This had to happen eventually."</p><p>"Thank you for helping me understand what that time was like for you."</p><p>She finally felt able to put it into words. "The worst part was just the helplessness. You were helpless, and I was helpless to fix you. I did everything I could, everything I knew how to do, and it wasn't enough. The time just dragged on and on and you were still gone. And it felt like the longer you were gone, the less likely that you'd ever come back."</p><p>"A situation like that calls for a totally different level of strength and emotional endurance. Not many people can handle something like that. You're an even more amazing person than I thought."</p><p>She seemed to disregard his compliment as she went on. "And the second worst part was just how much I missed you. My best friend. I wanted to talk to you and have you talk back. I wanted your goofy smile."</p><p>"I would have felt the same. I'm sure I did, wherever I was."</p><p>She looked down. "You better go back to your room before the sun comes up."</p><p>He kissed her on the forehead, and sneaked out the door.</p><p>_______________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>In the morning, Aang let Katara win the regatta. After they'd caught up the third ship and eaten lunch with Sokka's crew, he and Katara flew away on Appa and floated above the cold, choppy sea.</p><p>"So was that our first fight?" Aang asked, settling in next to her under a quilt.</p><p>"I guess so. Our first fight since becoming a couple anyway."</p><p>"I'd say we got through it pretty well."</p><p>"Yeah." She leaned her shoulder into his, and he took the invitation and wrapped his arm around her.</p><p>"I feel so much closer to you, and I didn't think that was possible." he marveled. "It's like there was a barrier between us that I didn't even know was there, and now it's gone."</p><p>"I think I feel that too—except I knew the barrier was there. Thanks for kind of bulldozing us through it."</p><p>"Sifu Toph would be proud. That was some emotional earth bending right there."</p><p>She laughed. "I guess you're right. But we don't have to tell her, do we?"</p><p>"Of course not." They sat contentedly for a minute, until Aang brought up something he'd been wondering about all morning. "Is it ok if I ask-I'm a little confused. You kissed me when I was unconscious, but then months later, the night of the play, you didn't want me to kiss you. You said it was because you weren't ready, but-"</p><p>"I wasn't ready for either of those kisses." Katara clarified. "When you were unconscious, I did something I wasn't ready for because it was the only thing I could think of to do to bring you back. I was willing to cross a line, and use myself and your feelings for me to help you get better, to win the war. It scared me."</p><p>"I understand that. I know a little about fear and desperation motivating misguided kisses." He quirked a smile at her, and then ventured another question. "What about when I kissed you during the invasion? I guess you weren't ready for that either."</p><p>"Well, no, I wasn't-it was certainly a surprise for me—but I also didn't want it to stop." She stole a sheepish glance at him under her lashes. He felt vindicated: he'd known she'd liked it. She went on. "I don't think any of us were ready for anything that happened that day. But maybe that's a proof that being ready doesn't matter that much."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"Well, this feels like a very adult relationship, doesn't it? And we are only 15 and 13. We aren't ready for it, but we're doing it anyway, because we just couldn't resist. Denying how we feel would be too hard. We just wanted to be together so much we couldn't wait until we were ready."</p><p>"Yeah, I think that's true. Sorry to bug you again about those two old kisses."</p><p>"No, they were fair questions."</p><p>"So, before we got sidetracked unpacking some serious baggage, we were talking about the Southern Water Tribe courtship customs and your dad's expectations." Aang changed the subject, or brought it back. "And I just realized we broke the rules last night. Well, mostly me, I'm the one who came to your room."</p><p>"There was a reason I declined to commit to following those rules." Katara said in her 'I told you so' voice. "I just object to the idea of anyone but us setting the boundaries of our relationship."</p><p>"Yeah, I get that, and I'm 100% with you in theory, but I said to your dad 'We'll do our best...'" He trailed off guiltily.</p><p>"You didn't even know what we were talking about."</p><p>"Yeah, I was aware of that, and I thought the sentiment was vague enough to give me some wiggle room. I mean, I guess I was doing my best to be a good boyfriend, trying to end our fight. I only broke the rule because I couldn't spend one more minute thinking about you being mad at me, so in that sense I was doing my best." Aang rationalized.</p><p>"It's so funny that you care more about my dad's rules than I do."</p><p>"I just don't want to be the cause of a fight between you and your dad. Between the two of us, we have exactly one living parent, and it doesn't make any sense to alienate him just to prove a point. It's not like we're starving for time together."</p><p>"You're right." she gave in. "It's sweet of you to care so much about my family. If it makes any difference, my dad basically knew that I slept next to you—or at least in the same room-when you were unconscious, and he didn't say anything about it then."</p><p>"I don't think that counts as him giving me permission to sneak into your room last night. Of course it was different then, I was unconscious."</p><p>"And no threat to my virtue." she said ironically.</p><p>"But now I am?"</p><p>"Oh, yes. You are." She assured him.</p><p>"Is that a good thing?"</p><p>"I think it is. It wouldn't be worth dating a guy who wasn't. But my dad might not agree. What if we just throw out all of the rules except the two biggest ones, and say that is our way of doing our best?"</p><p>"And which ones are those?"</p><p>"No sex, and clothes stay on. With an exception for water bending practice. The other rules are really just making sure there are no opportunities for those two to get broken anyway."</p><p>"Ok. That makes sense."</p><p>"The courtship customs also call for a kind of check-in at the one year mark, so that might be a time when we could...reevaluate whether these rules need to be changed."</p><p>Aang's eyes widened a little when he understood what she was implying. Then he gulped, and breathed, "Ok."</p><p>One corner of Katara's lips lifted at his reaction. Then she stretched. "Are you as tired as I am?"</p><p>"So tired!"</p><p>"Want to take a nap?"</p><p>"Kinda. Did you just change the rules for us so we could take a nap up here?"</p><p>"Maybe." she admitted with a shrug.</p><p>They lay down, assuming a similar position to the one they'd been in the night before, only a little closer. Katara rested her head on Aang's shoulder as a pillow, and his left arm draped around her shoulders. Her hand lay on his chest, and his hand on hers. With nothing left to drag them down, they floated off to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Note: yes, Katara also would have changed Aang's diaper while he was unconscious. (Or maybe if Sokka was a super A+ friend and brother, he might have taken responsibility for that. Maybe.) I chose to follow the lead of the show and pretend that unconscious people don't have bathroom needs, to save them both (but especially Aang) the humiliation. I didn't think talking about that would serve any purpose in the story.</p><p>A note on ages: Aang and Katara are supposed to be 12 and 14 during the action of the show, which takes place over the course of a year. I take that to mean that they are 12 and 14 when the show begins, and each has a birthday over the course of that year, which they forget to celebrate, or celebrate off screen, so that they're 13 and 15 when the show ends, and this scene takes place only a few weeks later.</p><p>Next chapter: The South Pole. Subscribe for an update on Fridays.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22: The South Pole</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When her village's small harbor finally came into sight, Katara couldn't resist asking Aang to fly her in on Appa. The sky bison landed in the middle of the circle of ice huts and was immediately surrounded by the curious inhabitants. They immediately recognized Katara, and she asked about her Gran Gran. Someone had already run to get her.</p><p>Gran Gran emerged from her home, and Katara ran to her, practically knocking her over. They hugged a long time. "My girl. I'm so proud of you." They looked at each other a long moment, both their eyes brimming with tears. "Where's your brother?"</p><p>"He'll be here soon. You'll see." She couldn't wait to see how proud Gran Gran would be when she heard Sokka had captained one of the ships himself. "You remember Aang?"</p><p>He stepped forward and bowed to the old woman. He was a little nervous; he remembered how this formidable old lady had ordered him out of her village after he'd foolishly alerted the Fire Nation to his presence.</p><p>She took his face in her two mittened hands. "You did save the world, didn't you?"</p><p>In some way the faith that Katara had always had in him as the Avatar had come from this woman, Aang realized. He felt sheepish. "I couldn't have done it without Katara." He glanced at her; she smiled and put her gloved hand in his. "And Sokka too, of course."</p><p>They noticed Pakku then, standing behind Gran Gran. Both bowed to their waterbending master. They made small talk about Pakku's journey as they walked toward the harbor with the other villagers. Pakku had attended Zuko's coronation with the other members of the White Lotus, but left almost immediately to rejoin his new wife in the south. He'd made even better time than they had, with only one small ship, water bending its currents almost all day. He'd already shared with the village the basic story of the end of the war, but of course he didn't know everything.</p><p>The ships were in view now. The harbor was barely big enough for all three of them. Katara and Aang helped push and pull the water to manage their landings so they didn't damage themselves, each other, or the dock.</p><p>The bridges opened up and the captains led their crews down. Hakoda and Sokka soon joined their family on the dock, hugging Gran Gran between them. All around them were tearful reunions of the crew members with their families, fathers and sons who had been absent for years finally home.</p><p>"May I introduce Captain Sokka," Hakoda patted his son's shoulder.</p><p>Gran Gran's eyes lit up, and she hugged her grandson again. "My brave warrior. How you've grown!"</p><p>Then Suki and Toph had to be introduced to Gran Gran as well. The whole crowd started moving back toward the village. Hakoda and Sokka gave some orders about what cargo needed to be unloaded immediately, and what could wait a day or so, and then they joined their family on the walk home.</p><p>The villagers ate the last of the ships' rations all together in the square that night, mingling with the sailors and visitors. When night started to fall, Katara realized that sleeping arrangements would have to be made. Their friends couldn't all fit in Gran Gran's hut. She and Aang built snow dwellings for him and Suki. In the process, they cleared one area entirely of snow, so that Toph could reach the earth and make her own small stone house. Gran Gran's home needed an addition as well.</p><p>The next morning, Pakku said to Katara and Aang, "I have something I want to show you." He led them to a clearing behind the village square, where a child of about five years was building a snowman. Katara thought she recognized him as one of the boys Sokka had tried to train to be a warrior.</p><p>"Do you remember Katara, Karik?" Pakku asked. He nodded. Katara recalled the boy when she heard his name; he was the one that Sokka had kept complaining always interrupted his training sessions with requests to use the bathroom.</p><p>"I'm Aang," the air bender introduced himself.</p><p>"I know who you are," the boy said, somehow shy and bold at the same time.</p><p>"Why don't you show them what you can do, Karik?" Pakku asked.</p><p>The boy made a gesture reaching down into the snow, and a snowball appeared in the air. With a move of his arm like a throw, he made the snowball arc toward the snowman and hit it in the belly.</p><p>Katara clapped and cheered, delighted.</p><p>"You're not the only one anymore." Aang said to her. It was only because she knew him so well that she noticed the sadness below the surface of his smile. He was still the only one of his kind.</p><p>Pakku explained that Karik did well bending water when it was in the form of snow, but he still struggled with liquid water or solid ice, and could not yet move the element between states. The three brainstormed some different exercises that might help get the youngster over his block. Then Aang and Katara gave Pakku a break from teaching, and gave Karik their attention for the morning,</p><p>After lunch, Katara filled her pockets with little fish and took Aang to a certain hill she remembered. His eyes lit up when he saw the birds waddling around.</p><p>"Penguin sledding!" He yelled joyfully, grabbing his girlfriend and spinning her around. She handed him a fish, they each caught a penguin, and they raced down the hill, screaming and whooping. Katara froze the snow ahead of her into a smooth, icy track, so that she could go faster and win. But then the next ride down, Aang copied her, and also blew air behind him, so that he won. They ran back up the hill and got out more fish to bribe two more penguins, although the poor birds were starting to become wary of them. This time, Aang crashed his penguin into Katara's from the side, so that they tumbled over each other and rolled down the hill together. He landed on top of her, both laughing. When their laughter slowed, he gave her a single, soft kiss.</p><p>She smiled up at him, her face framed by the fur of her hood. "Is this what you had in mind the first time you asked me to go penguin sledding with you?"</p><p>"It would have been if I'd dared to think this were possible." he answered, kissing her again. Then he stood up and offered her a hand.</p><p>"Look there," she pointed. He turned around.</p><p>"It's that old Fire Nation wreck," Aang said wonderingly. "Of course it's still there. Should I call you a cowardly possum-chicken and make you explore it with me?"</p><p>She laughed. "Only if you want to get smacked."</p><p>When they returned to the village square, Sokka and Hakoda were directing some men in carrying and placing the giant polar bear dog statue. Toph had built a stone stand for it. Once it was placed securely, they all went into Gran Gran's home with the wooden crate that contained the platter from the Fire Nation Trophy room.</p><p>Gran Gran marveled at the design from Naujaat, and the story about how it had come to return to the South.</p><p>"There's a letter too. It's addressed to you," Hakoda handed the letter to his mother, who handed it to Aang.</p><p>"My eyes aren't too good. Can you read it to me?"</p><p>"To Kanna of the Southern Water Tribe,</p><p>The last time you saw me, I was leading a raid on your village and kidnapping the Avatar. I am unable to fully express my sorrow and regret for my actions and the way they hurt your community. I'm a different person now, but that doesn't change the effect my choices had on your family and your village. I wish I could take it all back, and I'm incredibly sorry that I can't. Though I regret many of the things I did before the recent solar eclipse, attacking your village was among the worst because it directly hurt you, an elder whose respect I would have hoped to earn, and Sokka and Katara, who later became so important to me.</p><p>I want to commend you for your role in raising Sokka and Katara, and thank you for shaping them into the kind, strong people they are. You have probably heard the parts they played in ending the war, but you may not yet know the effect they had on a broken, lonely prince. They accepted me as an ally and offered me friendship when I did not deserve it. Sokka's leadership and sense of humor helped us to face the dangerous challenges of the final days of the war. Katara saved my life and helped me win my throne. To put it simply, they are heroes to me personally, as well as to the entire world. I'm sure they will tell you the whole story, and they're the ones you should hear it from. I only wish you had been there to see their bravery in person, as I did, so that you could feel as proud of them as they truly deserve.</p><p>I hope that someday we can meet in friendship and share stories about Sokka and Katara.</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>Zuko"</p><p>When Aang finished reading, Katara was wiping her eyes. "Gran Gran, how would you like to have another grandson?"</p><p>Gran Gran looked between Aang and Katara for a second, and said sternly, "You're a bit too young to get married, Katara."</p><p>"Oh, no, that's not what I meant at all," Katara insisted, blushing furiously. Aang was too.</p><p>Sokka butted in. "What she's trying to tell you, is that we kind of made our own family out there. We're all brothers and sisters now, not just me and Katara, but also Aang, and Toph, and Zuko. The new Fire Lord. The guy who sent you that letter, and the platter, and the polar bear dog outside. And Suki, but she's not a sister to me, just the others. And Aang and Katara aren't siblings to each other either, even though it's gross, and yeah, they're way too young to get married. We've all adopted each other, so if you want to be an honorary grandma to the others, that might be nice. I think you're the only living grandparent any of us have."</p><p>"Well, Aang and Toph and Suki are all very nice and welcome," Gran Gran looked around at the friends, "But you're talking about that scarred boy who grabbed me, kicked you into the snow, and then he took Aang off on his ship?" the old lady asked her grandson, asked, still confused.</p><p>"Yeah, that was him. Like he said, he changed."</p><p>Then they told her all about Zuko, and how he'd joined them, and how they'd honored him with a Circle of Praise. Hakoda and Pakku hadn't yet heard the whole story either, so they listened with interest.</p><p>The following day, Aang and Katara held another lesson with Karik, a decidedly nontraditional one. They had an idea to build on the boy's strengths in bending snow. When they'd told Sokka, he'd gone into full planning mode, and that was how the first village-wide snow war began.</p><p>Katara and Karik took Toph. The other side had Aang, Sokka, and Suki. The other village children chose their own sides, mostly according to who they admired most, Aang or Katara, or who they feared most, Sokka or Toph. Both sides built a stone fort and amassed an arsenal of snowballs. After a glorious battle that included two snowmen fighting alongside the children and teens, the Southern water benders prevailed.</p><p>That afternoon Katara wrote a letter.</p><p>Dear Zuko,</p><p>We arrived safely in my village two days ago. We were able to make such good time because Aang and I pushed the ships along with our bending.</p><p>The polar bear dog looks right at home in the village square. Gran Gran loved the platter and the letter you sent her. We had to explain to her that she now has several more grandchildren. You are welcome in her home anytime you are able to visit.</p><p>Do you remember the flare that brought you to my village the day we met? It was from a wrecked Fire Nation ship from years ago. It's not safe to leave it there, daring the local children to explore it. Aang and I could sink it, but that feels like polluting the ocean and wasting the metal. What do you think is the best way to dispose of it? Maybe you could add this item to your list for the reparations tour, if you're not able to send anyone to take care of it sooner.</p><p>We are having a great time, but we do miss you. Aang says he's keeping up with his hot squats. Sokka wanted to send you some seal jerky, but it was too heavy for the hawk. I hope your plans are progressing steadily and that the meetings aren't unbearable. Say hi to Mai for us.</p><p>Your sister,</p><p>Katara</p><p>Zuko's messenger hawks were already there, ready for service. She tied the letter to a claw and watched it fly away to the northwest.</p><p>That night, there was a formal village-wide story circle. After a warm-up of a couple traditional tales told by Hakoda and Gran Gran, Sokka was given the floor to tell the story of the Avatar's triumph over the Fire Lord.</p><p>"Well, after Katara and I left to help the Avatar, we traveled around the world. We had some run-ins with the Fire Nation. We went to Kyoshi Island and Omashu. Katara stole a waterbending scroll from a pirate and got tied up by Prince Zuko. Aang turned into a giant koi fish and sank the Fire Nation Navy. We found Toph at Earth Rumble VI, where she was the champion wrestler, named the Blind Bandit. We went to the spirit library and found out about the day of black sun, the solar eclipse when the fire benders would lose their power. But the giant owl that runs that place didn't like us using his information to attack people, so we barely escaped with our lives, and then Appa was gone! I don't remember going through the desert, because of the cactus juice, but then we decided to go to Ba Sing Se, and Suki helped us through the Serpent's Pass because she's the greatest ever, and then we made Azula's giant drill kind of blow up with sludge diarrhea and saved the whole city, but the Earth King still wouldn't talk to us because the creepy Dai Li guys were the ones who were really in charge, and then I went to meet up with Dad, and Aang went to the guru, and when we got back Katara was kidnapped and Azula had stolen Suki's clothes and the Earth Kingdom fell and Aang almost died. But then I realized if everyone thought he was dead, that made him the greatest secret weapon ever! So we disguised ourselves and lived in the Fire Nation for a while and I even joined the Fire Nation Army for a couple days, a surveillance mission, really all I learned is they'll take anybody, I mean anybody. And then when the eclipse came, we attacked with submarines and tanks and swamp guys, and we found Azula in the underground bunker but no Fire Lord. So we escaped, but Dad and the others got taken prisoner, and that really sucked. But then Zuko showed up! And he was super awkward but he really did want to help and he was basically the only way Aang was ever going to learn firebending, so we let him join up. He even helped me break Dad and Suki out of the Boiling Rock, which was this crazy Fire Nation prison in a volcano, so now we're bros. Then Aang disappeared and the comet was coming, so Toph, and Suki and I decided to take down the Fire Lord's airships before they could destroy the Earth Kingdom, and we just crashed them into each other. Lots of explosions. We almost died. And then Aang had defeated Ozai and took away his bending so we made fun of the Loser Lord for a while, and then we went back to the Fire Nation for Zuko's coronation. That was a good party. And then we got medals from the Earth King, took a little beach vacation, and now we're on our victory tour."</p><p>The villagers exchanged confused looks. Sokka had stopped talking, so a few of them figured they were supposed to clap, and did, weakly. The story circle broke up awkwardly, and people started mingling, or wandering home.</p><p>"I don't get it, nobody seemed to like the story of Aang's amazing victory." Sokka remarked to his father, mystified and dejected.</p><p>"Well, son, I think you're going to have to write out what you want to say, and practice it." Hakoda advised. "You can't wing it in front of a group of people until you've been doing it for quite a while, especially not when it's something complicated like an adventure story. Or...an invasion plan."</p><p>"Oh. I should have known that."</p><p>"No, there's no way to learn except through experience." The chief reassured his son.</p><p>"You mean by failing."</p><p>"Well, yes, sometimes."</p><p>Sokka sighed. "That reminds me of a pep talk a certain angsty firebender once gave me on a certain prison rock. I didn't like hearing it then, and I don't like hearing it now, but that doesn't mean it's any less true. Why can't I ever just do something right the first time? Why do I have to try?"</p><p>"I seem to remember a little boy who struggled to throw a boomerang once." The chief's voice took on a soft, sentimental tone. "You worked hard to master that, and now you can take down a whole airship fleet with just a boomerang."</p><p>"Well, a boomerang, a space sword, a metalbender, and a Suki." Sokka gave credit where it was due, but he did feel better hearing the obvious pride in his dad's voice. Hakoda patted the boy's shoulder and moved into the crowd.</p><p>"Great job telling our story, Sokka!" Aang came up to his friend and congratulated him.</p><p>"You don't have to pretend it was good. Nobody understood it."</p><p>"Well, I did, but that was probably because I was there." The air bender admitted.</p><p>"Dad said I should write it out and practice it."</p><p>"That's probably a good idea. Hey, that reminds me. Remember when we saw that stupid play, and you said something about how you wanted to tell the real story?"</p><p>"Yeah, I did say that, didn't I?" Sokka rubbed his chin, considering.</p><p>"And also, remember when I went to school in the Fire Nation and I told you how the history those kids learn is so twisted and full of lies? I think somebody needs to write the true story of the end of the war, so future school kids can know what really happened."</p><p>"So you think I should be the Avatar's official playwright and historian?"</p><p>"If you want to be. You did say you wanted to write all of the jokes."</p><p>"That might not be a bad idea, buddy. That might not be a bad idea." Sokka nodded, staring speculatively out into the distance.</p><p>_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>On their last day in the village, Katara helped her grandmother prepare food for the big goodbye dinner. They chopped vegetables and stirred pots, falling into an easy rhythm of working together.</p><p>"When you leave, you won't be coming back, will you?" Katara's mouth dropped open, and she stared at her grandmother in surprise, her knife freezing in the middle of cutting a potato. "Oh, I know you'll visit, but this is never really going to be your home again."</p><p>As soon as she heard it, Katara knew it was true. She hadn't quite articulated the feeling even to herself, but there was a difference now. She felt removed from this place, like it was too small and she didn't quite fit in anymore. As much as she loved her family and the villagers she'd grown up with, she had no desire to stay much longer. She even had an idea that if their visit dragged on, she would start to feel restless and discontented. "No, I don't think I belong here now." She answered sadly.</p><p>"Where will you stay?"</p><p>"Well, we're going to travel for a while. After that, I don't know."</p><p>"For some of our people, home isn't a village, but a boat. Some logs floating over the water, untethered to land. Maybe that's the kind of water bender you are. A wanderer."</p><p>"Maybe," she agreed. If that were so, and she trusted her grandmother to know her better than herself, it might make her especially well suited to adapt easily to Aang's nomadic lifestyle.</p><p>Again, Gran Gran seemed to read her mind. "So is he the one for you?"</p><p>"I think he might be," she answered shyly. "It's new, and we're young, but he makes me really happy."</p><p>"Then you must wander with him." Her grandmother nodded, as If it were settled, once and for all. "I think I knew when I sent you after him that this might happen. I'd filled your head with stories of the Avatar as a great hero. You might have been half in love with him before you even met."</p><p>"I don't want to be with him because he's the Avatar, but because he's Aang." She argued. "He's my best friend."</p><p>"I can see that, and that's as it should be. Friendship is the best foundation for love. It's clear that he's a good, sweet, honorable boy who will protect you and treat you well."</p><p>"I don't need anyone to protect me." Katara bristled slightly at the implication.</p><p>"I know you don't, my water bender. Pakku told me how you challenged him and held your own, before you'd even had any formal training. He's very impressed with your skill."</p><p>She blushed at her sifu's praise. "He's a good teacher."</p><p>"He's a good man. Especially now that he's a bit more enlightened concerning women's roles. And if you'd never left here, we would have each died alone, without ever rekindling our love. You brought romance back to our old age." Her eyes twinkled, and she looked decades younger.</p><p>"I'm very happy for you, Gran Gran."</p><p>"And I for you." For a second it was as if they were girlfriends of the same age, sharing their glee over the cute boys they liked.</p><p>"I'll miss you." Katara was suddenly overwhelmed with love for this woman who'd cared for her as a child mourning her mother. She had no idea how she'd survived the past year without seeing her, and dreaded another parting.</p><p>"And I'll miss you," Gran Gran touched her granddaughter's cheek, dusting it with flour. "But Pakku and I will see you in the North, I think. We're splitting our time between the poles. I'll never have to live through another long, dark polar winter again! Love has made me a bit of a nomad too." Katara saw that sparkle in her eye again, before she turned back to the pie crust she was rolling. "Anyway, I'll be happy as long as I get to see you at least once a year, while I keep hearing such wonderful news about the good work you're doing in the world. You've made me so proud."</p><p>That was when Sokka burst into the kitchen, putting his fingers in everything and asking plaintively when dinner would be ready. The women shooed him out, and got back to their work, cocooned in the smell of roasting vegetables and baking pastry.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: I hope you liked it! Please leave me a review! Subscribe for weekly updates on Fridays!</p><p>Next chapter: The Southern Air Temple. It's become my longest chapter yet.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. The Southern Air Temple</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a whole day in the air, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph arrived at the Southern Air Temple as evening was falling. They had a quick meal of cold rations, seal jerky, biscuits, and fruit. Then they picked one area as a meeting place and spread out to claim their own rooms to sleep in.</p><p>Katara set up her things in a small room close to the fountain that had a nice view, then looked for Aang to say good night.</p><p>She searched for quite a while, through the quiet halls and empty rooms, and was considering going back down to see if he was with Appa, when she saw a figure sitting quietly on a sleeping pallet in a long room with a balcony on one end. There were several mounds of wood and cloth that looked like the rotten remains of beds. Maybe it had been a dormitory. When he heard her footsteps, Aang turned his head and saw her.</p><p>He held up a toy bird and she saw that his eyes were shining with tears. She wondered if it was his toy, if he'd recognized it as belonging to a particular child he'd known, or if it was simply clear evidence that a child had lived here and had been happy, had played without fear, and had been killed. It didn't matter.</p><p>She rushed to his side and put an arm around him. He dissolved into sobs at her touch, and buried his face in her shoulder.</p><p>Katara tried to imagine what it would be like to lose everyone she'd ever known, and it was literally unimaginable. She envisioned her own village empty and desolate, all the people gone, the loss of her mother multiplied many times over. What if she'd lost her mother without her dad, or Sokka, or Gran Gran to help her through it? What if she'd only had two kids she'd just met? This little intellectual exercise of putting herself in his shoes was bringing tears of sympathy to her eyes, but she now understood that it wasn't enough.</p><p>She needed to not just comfort him or sympathize with him, but to be with him down deep inside of his pain. Like stepping inside of his sphere of raging wind to help him come out of the Avatar state. He needed firm touch, a solid presence, an anchor holding him to this world, where not quite everything was terrible.</p><p>She guided Aang to lie down on his side on the pallet, facing away from her, and then curled her body around his. "Let it out," she whispered. "I've got you." She pulled him tight against her, resting her cheek on the back of his neck. One of his hands clutched her arm and pressed it to his heaving chest. Her heart felt pierced with each sob that wracked his body. She would have liked to believe that enduring this night with him meant taking some of his pain onto herself instead, but she didn't think it worked like that. All she knew was that he wasn't alone.</p><p>She couldn't tell how long he cried like that, but eventually he exhausted himself. His weeping slowed to unsteady gasps, and then to the quiet, even breaths of sleep.</p><p>Finally. Katara extracted her arm from underneath him, and rolled onto her back. She'd known this visit would be hard, but this went beyond anything she'd imagined. She felt drained, but she knew it was worse for him, and that this was only the first night. She wanted nothing more than to give him whatever he needed to help him survive this sorrow. But playing midwife to his heartbreak was among hardest things she'd ever done.</p><p>She turned back to Aang, settled a blanket over them both, and threw her arm over his side, hoping her proximity would soothe rather than rouse him. She tried to sleep, knowing she'd need energy for more of the same tomorrow.</p><p>_________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>When Katara woke up, she was alone on the pallet. She sat up and looked around for Aang, alarmed. There he was, sitting cross-legged on the balcony, facing away into the morning sun. Instant relief. She decided to give him some time for his meditation. She tiptoed away, cleaned herself up, and changed her clothes. When she was finished, she returned to the room where they'd slept, and found him exactly as she'd left him. She sat down next to him, copying his pose. Maybe he'd been waiting for her, because almost immediately he spoke up, still looking out into the distance.</p><p>"I'd thought I'd dealt with it with Guru Pathik. It was one of the chakras he helped me unlock. The love chakra, which is blocked by grief. I needed to grieve for my people. But I guess I wasn't done grieving then. Maybe I never will be."</p><p>"I'm not done grieving my mom, and I've had a lot more time to deal with her loss than you have. And she was just one person. I think you're right, it's probably the kind of thing that never really goes away. But it does get easier with time." She paused. "This year, you didn't have any time to mourn. We just rushed from one place to another..."</p><p>"No, I didn't. And so I kind of put it in a box inside, and now we're opening it up." Aang took her hand and looked into her eyes for the first time that morning. "Thank you for helping me last night. I do need you."</p><p>"I'm here," Katara promised.</p><p>He leaned toward her until their heads touched at the temples, and took a deep, shaky breath. They sat that way for a few moments, until she heard one of their stomachs rumbling.</p><p>"Want to go get some breakfast?" she asked.</p><p>They went down to the area they'd designated for cooking and gathering, and saw that the others were already working. They ate the almost-cold food that had been set aside for them, and joined in. Sokka and Suki were breaking down some half-rotten furniture into firewood for their dinner. Toph was mending every cracked stone she could find. Katara started power-washing the moss and lichen from the walls. Aang swept away the dust and dirt with powerful winds. They all felt it helped to keep busy. They began with the public areas of the Temple, the outdoor courtyards that had been most exposed to weather, where animals and plants had taken over.</p><p>When she found the third body of a Fire Nation soldier, Katara took a break to write a quick note to Zuko:</p><p>"We are at the Southern Air Temple doing some cleaning. We'd like to give the Fire Nation soldiers we've found here a proper burial. What rites would you suggest?"</p><p>She found Aang clearing debris from the rafters in one of the large gathering halls. When she waved, he noticed her and flew down.</p><p>"I brought you a drink," she offered him a bottle of water and a snack of some nuts. He sat next to her for a minute. "I was going to send a letter to Zuko, and wanted to see if you had anything to add."</p><p>She showed it to him and he read it. "It's good. A good idea. I'm glad you thought of it. I don't have anything to add. But you can sign my name to it as well." He took another swig of water, kissed her on the cheek and got back to work. Katara added a few more lines of her own to the letter, hinting at what a hard time this was for Aang, before sending it north on a hawk.</p><p>They ate dinner late, as the sun sent its last rays over the sky, all of them tired, but in a good way. They all agreed that the labor was satisfying because the results were so clear.</p><p>"The place looks better already, doesn't it?" Sokka remarked.</p><p>"Yeah, it's closer to the way it should be." Aang agreed, grateful for his friends' hard work. Then he sighed. "It's still so quiet, though. See, normally there would be bells ringing right now to summon the monks for the last prayers of the day. Kids would be playing over in that field, getting in one last game before the sun went down. The people who'd spent the day working in the kitchens and gardens would be walking back to their rooms along that path, probably planning some gathering..." Soon Aang was giving a detailed description of daily life at the Air Temple. The foods, the schedules, the lessons, the roles and jobs different people performed. Once he started talking, he seemed unable to stop, and the others were happy to listen and learn more about him and his home. They also seemed to realize that sharing his memories was exactly what he needed to do.</p><p>____________________________________________________________________</p><p>Three more days passed that way. Aang led his friends in cleaning the buildings and grounds, told stories about his people over dinner, and collapsed into tears in Katara's arms at night. They had almost done everything to improve the place that they could, without tools and materials that they didn't have. The next morning, they finally faced the hardest question: what to do with the bodies.</p><p>When Aang explained the Air Nomads' traditional sky burials to the others, they were kind of taken aback and grossed out.</p><p>"So you let the birds eat their corpses?" Toph asked incredulously.</p><p>"That way they can always fly through the air. It keeps the circle of life going."</p><p>"I guess it's not that much different from burials at sea." Sokka pointed out with a shrug. "That's Water Tribe tradition. The ocean feeds us, then we feed the ocean." Aang nodded approvingly.</p><p>Toph and Suki still looked uncomfortable. They were pretty attached to their Earth Kingdom custom of interment in the ground, where the body's rot was hidden from survivors.</p><p>"But, Aang, these bodies don't have any meat on them for the birds to eat," Katara said gently. She hated saying it, but she didn't understand how they'd be able to follow this custom, as important as it clearly was. "They've already been decomposing for a hundred years. They're just skeletons now."</p><p>"I know. The same thing would happen to the bodies on the platforms. After the birds pick the bones clean, there's another stage to it. We have to grind the bones into a kind of paste, and mix in some flour and berries."</p><p>Suki looked a little green, but kept quiet, and Katara pinched Toph to keep her from saying anything. Despite their discomfort with the foreign ritual, they all knew it was important to their friend.</p><p>So they started moving the bones and making preparations for the Air Nomads to take their last flight.</p><p>That was also the day that Zuko's response arrived by hawk:</p><p>Dear Aang and Katara,</p><p>Thank you for your message. I'm glad to hear that you arrived safely at the Southern Air Temple. I hope your last days at the South Pole were enjoyable.</p><p>Thank you also for your request. I'd ask that you burn what remains of the bodies, as cremation is the traditional Fire Nation burial method. If the soldiers are still in their armor, you will have to take it off them, because it will not burn. A mass funeral pyre is fine. I've enclosed a text describing our funeral rituals.</p><p>I have notified the Fire Sages of your plans for a mass funeral, and they are holding services this week in memory of our soldiers and of the Air Nomads, in solidarity with the rituals you perform. Mai and I will be attending.</p><p>I truly appreciate your sensitivity in holding rites even for the soldiers who caused so much pain and destruction. I would have understood if you had desecrated or simply discarded their bodies. It is a testament to your strength of character that it is possible for you to treat their remains respectfully, when they did not do the same for your people. Healing acts like this are exactly what it will take to restore harmony to the world. On behalf of my nation, I thank you.</p><p>Aang, as my friend, you are in my thoughts as you say goodbye to your people. My heart burns with sorrow at the atrocity my ancestors committed, and the unspeakable loss you and the world have suffered. I only hope you are able to find some peace.</p><p>Your brother,</p><p>Zuko</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________</p><p>They had made two piles of bones, separating the two nations, gathering all of the bodies from every part of the Air Temple, except one. For days, they had all avoided the room where Gyatso was. Sokka and Katara had warned the others away from it, wanting it to remain undisturbed until Aang was ready to enter it. Now the airbender walked slowly into the room, his friends behind him, looking around.</p><p>"I think I know what happened here." he finally said. "He took all the oxygen out of the room so they would all die together."</p><p>Katara was shocked. "I thought Air Nomads were against all killing?"</p><p>"We are. But one of the more advanced, more nuanced teachings is that by killing someone else, you kill the good in yourself, so you might as well die at that point. Or another way to put it is, you have to be willing to die in order to kill, you have to hold your own life as worthless as you hold the enemy's, because after killing, life is not worth living."</p><p>"It's the only way this scene makes any sense." Sokka agreed. "Why else would there be one serene monk still sitting, and all of these Fire Nation soldiers falling over themselves like this?"</p><p>"Maybe he thought he could save some of the others by...taking out these men, and was willing to sacrifice himself to do that?" Katara suggested. To her mind, this death made Gyatso a hero, but she wasn't sure that Aang would see it that way. She didn't want him to lose his mentor all over again, by losing respect for him over lofty principles that were so difficult for flawed human beings to adhere to, especially during war.</p><p>"I can't imagine his despair," Aang murmured. "To accept death with the enemy, to murder himself for the sake of hurting others. It's so different from the way he lived. And I abandoned him to this."</p><p>She should have known he would take the guilt on himself. Katara took his hand, sensing him beginning to spiral. "You survived. He would have wanted you to survive. Remember the way he lived, not the way he died."</p><p>He nodded absently, still staring at the skeleton. Suddenly, almost roughly, he pulled Katara into his arms and held her tightly, his eyes stuck on Gyatso over her shoulder. She remembered when she'd found him in this room a year ago, how her touch had brought him back to himself. Perhaps he was using her to stay grounded. It seemed to be working. He needed three slow, deep breaths, and then he was ready to let her go, just as the others were beginning to feel awkward.</p><p>Together, the friends worked on gathering the bones of the soldiers for the funeral pyre, and piling their armor in a room they'd designated for Fire Nation detritus. Then, with Sokka and Katara's help, Aang moved Gyatso's skeleton onto a kind of stretcher that they'd been using, taking care to keep it from disintegrating. He took the medallion with the air symbol, and put it aside to keep.</p><p>That evening Aang told them the story of his tattoos. Of the air bending forms he'd had to master, their meaning and difficulty. Of Gyatso coaching him through the advanced forms, then helping him meditate through the pain of the needles, even laugh through it. The fruit tarts they had shared at each stage of the tattoo process.</p><p>"Want to hear Gyatso's favorite joke?" he asked Katara as they sat on a bench in the old dormitory room that night.</p><p>"Of course," his girlfriend smiled at him.</p><p>"So a lemur says to a sky bison, 'Got any moon peaches?' And the sky bison says, 'What do I look like, a bathtub?'"</p><p>Aang burst out laughing, and even though Katara didn't understand the joke at all, his laughter was always infectious, so she couldn't help chuckling too. But then she saw something behind his eyes change, even as he kept laughing. She touched his shoulder, and the switch flipped: suddenly he was weeping. Before she could respond, he practically climbed into her lap. She held him that way until it became uncomfortable, then moved them two steps to the sleeping pallet. He buried his face in her neck and shoulder, clinging to her and wrapping himself around her as he cried and cried. After he fell asleep half on top of her, she lay awake on her back, afraid to disturb him by moving, still puzzling over the joke.</p><p>__________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>The funeral pyre was ready, the bones of the Fire Nation soldiers piled among sticks and wood chips. The friends stood uncertainly around it, unsure how to begin.</p><p>"So, who wants to read it?" Katara held out the text Zuko had sent. She had an idea that Aang should be the one to do it, but only if he volunteered.</p><p>Everyone was quiet a moment, until the last Air Nomad took it from her hand and started to read: "As all life proceeds from the sun's great flames, fire must now reclaim these men. Let Agni's tongues lick their wounds, and may their ashes..."</p><p>Aang had to be the one to set the fire too, since he was the only one who could bend fire. It seemed right to use only bent fire on this pyre, rather than a flame from a match or torch. More pure and respectful, somehow. Surely that was how they would have done it in the Fire Nation. It was unfair that the burden of conducting this ceremony fell on the one who had been hurt the most by the men they were laying to rest, but at the same time, maybe rituals like this would comfort him and help him let go of any anger he may have still held toward these soldiers and their country.</p><p>It was windy, so Aang had to stay and watch the pyre, otherwise it was liable to go out. He sat down with his knees pulled up to his chin, and Katara sat next to him, keeping him company for his vigil. The others wandered off. Suki worked on food preparation, and Toph started bending some stone into a big mortar and pestle to grind the Air Nomads' bones for sky burial. When Suki looked for Sokka before dinner, she found him writing.</p><p>"I'm trying to write down some of the stuff Aang's been telling us at night." he explained. "He said I should be the historian, and he's the only living witness of this place as a thriving community, so what he's got to say is kind of important." Suki kissed his head and left him alone with his pen.</p><p>It took the whole day for the pyre to burn through. That evening, Aang took the ashes up in his glider, and scattered them over the forest at the mountain's base.</p><p>"How are you feeling?" Katara asked him when he returned.</p><p>"I feel...lighter." he responded, as if surprising himself with the answer. "I think I've forgiven them. The soldiers, I mean. They were just following orders, and they paid for it anyway. Sozin, though, the one who ordered it—I'm not sure if I'm the one hanging on to bad feelings about him, or if it's Roku."</p><p>"That must be confusing."</p><p>"Sometimes it is."</p><p>The following day they held the Air Nomad funeral. Aang and Toph ground the bones with the giant mortar and pestle, mixed in the flour, seeds, and berries, and loaded the paste onto Appa. It took up just about the whole saddle, so Aang had to fly up on the glider with only Katara to help him place it on the high platform built for this purpose. Then they sent Appa back for the others, so they could stand with Aang as he said a few words. They held hands in a line, Aang in the center, Katara and Sokka on each side of him, Toph and Suki on either side of the Water Tribe siblings.</p><p>Aang took a deep breath and spoke to his lost loved ones. The morning was so peaceful that it seemed like the sky was listening. "I want to say I'm sorry for failing you, for running away. I'm sorry you had to suffer because I wasn't ready to defend you. Roku says he's sorry too. I want you to know that I finally accepted my responsibility as the Avatar and brought an end to the war, and I was even able to do it while staying true to the principles of nonviolence that you taught me. It's the beginning of a new era of peace, and I just wish you could see it. I wish you could help me figure out what forgiveness and reconciliation between nations looks like, because it seems like the world thinks I already know. I want to thank you for loving me, for teaching me, and for giving me Appa. I have a new family now. Here they are." He squeezed his friends' hands and glanced at each of them. "They're taking good care of me, and because of them, I know I'm going to be ok. I promise on my immortal soul that nothing like this will ever happen again, to any group of people, as long as I, or any of my successors, live. I'm going to do all that one person can do to make sure you aren't forgotten, and our way of life survives. And when my time in this world is over, we'll fly together again."</p><p>He was finished. The only sounds were sniffles, and the calls of far-off birds.</p><p>"Would you guys sing a hymn with me?" The airbender sang it once on his own, and they all joined in the second time. The tune was mournful, but uplifting at the end. Sokka's voice was now low enough for a harmony, and they were all surprised at how sweet Toph sounded; they'd never heard her sing before.</p><p>As the last sad notes of the song died out, the friends moved closer together, until they were all holding each other loosely. They surrounded Aang with their arms and wrapped him in their care, until he was ready to leave.</p><p>Keeping vigil up on the platform wasn't the right thing to do; they would just scare away the birds. After making his own doleful noise of farewell, Appa flew them all back down. Aang spent the rest of the day meditating, walking the empty halls of the monastery, tending to his sky bison, and flying on his glider. Katara watched him from afar, so that she could be with him if he wanted her, but solitude seemed to soothe him that day.</p><p>The group had become accustomed to the ritual of listening to Aang after dinner, simply letting him talk. That night he just listed names. Every name of every individual he could remember, along with a short description, like their age or job. There were so many, many names.<br/>
__________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>With the sorrowful work of the funerals complete, the friends spent their last couple of days at the Air Temple simply enjoying themselves.</p><p>Sokka and Aang had finally finished their repairs on the training gates. Aang stepped through them effortlessly while his friends clapped and cheered. Then each one of them tried, while he coached from the sidelines. Sokka only lasted two steps before he got thrown out with his bottom in the air. Katara dodged the swinging doors six times, before one caught her from behind and spun her out to the side. Suki did the best of the non-airbenders: she made it all the way to the center before getting knocked down.</p><p>Toph refused to try. "It's not that I can't handle it," she justified herself. "It's that my way of handling it would be to destroy it, and you just worked so hard to fix it." They all agreed it was best if Toph gave the training gates a pass.</p><p>"Can you explain the rules of this game again?" Katara asked, as they gathered around the unusual ball field, with its uneven stumps, hoops, and hollow wooden ball.</p><p>Aang gave a short lecture on the basics, with demonstrations, describing how players handled the ball and blocked each other by manipulating the air currents. The scoring system was a little complicated too.</p><p>"I'm sure I won't be able to play it as well as an air bender, but maybe I can kind of approximate it with water." Katara offered.</p><p>"Of all the elements, it would probably come closest." Sokka put in, settling on the sidelines to watch.</p><p>Katara brought a lot of water up from the fountain, and tried to use it to defend her goals against Aang's shots. Her water whips weren't as flexible or as nimble as his air blasts, and she couldn't give the ball spin the way he could.</p><p>"It's kind of like competing with a toddler," he admitted, making his girlfriend pout theatrically. "But a really cute one! I'm just happy to get to play at all!" Between scoring a ridiculous number of points, he explained how whole teams of players would have worked together, doing his best to reenact games he'd seen.</p><p>In the evening, Aang played a pipe he'd found, and Toph provided accompaniment on a drum, so that Sokka and Suki could have the dance lesson they'd been promised. Katara was forced to admit that her brother was not entirely without grace and rhythm, and Suki turned out to be just as good at following his lead as she was at leading her girls. Almost as soon as Aang and Katara declared the lesson over, the older couple said goodnight and retreated to the room they'd been sharing, even though it was barely twilight.<br/>
____________________________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Their last night at the Air Temple was warm and clear, so they'd decided to sleep around the fire as a group, looking up at the stars.</p><p>After they'd all settled into their sleeping bags, Suki asked across the fire, "So, Aang, what were Air Nomad weddings like?" There was an insinuation in her voice, as if she hoped this would be a cute, romantic topic to make the new couple blush. The answer made it clear she'd been wrong.</p><p>"We don't have weddings. We don't get married."</p><p>The statement seemed so preposterous, everyone was quiet for a minute.</p><p>"What?" Sokka finally burst out.</p><p>"This was a monastery, Sokka. Obviously monks and nuns don't get married."</p><p>"So you were going to be a monk?" Toph asked.</p><p>"Yeah. All the leaders in the community were in the monastery." Aang explained. "The majority of air benders were monks or nuns. The proficient ones. The best air bending training was incorporated into the education of the novices. It was just a spiritual commitment. A way of life."</p><p>"If they were all monks and nuns, how did they have children?" Sokka asked, as if he'd spotted the flaw in some piece of machinery that would make it break down.</p><p>"The same way everybody does," Aang replied, in a tone that made it clear he was barely restraining himself from adding you idiot. "We're human. The vows didn't include chastity. And sex isn't seen as bad or wrong or sinful. But in the monastery, we just don't arrange our community around living in pairs, the way people in the other three nations do."</p><p>"But how did they have enough children to keep the place going, if they didn't arrange their lives around opportunities to make babies?" Sokka pressed.</p><p>"There were fertility festivals where sex was encouraged. It was kind of expected that each nun would have two or three babies in her life."</p><p>"Fertility festivals? Does that mean orgies?" Sokka seemed filled with glee at the idea of staid monks and nuns participating in deviant sexual practices.</p><p>"Don't make fun," Katara snapped.</p><p>"The months of the spring and fall equinoxes." Aang explained. It seemed like they wanted a lecture on Air Nomad mating customs, so they were going to get one. "Sometimes they would pick one partner for the whole month, sometimes they would just go with whoever they wanted each night. I guess maybe sometimes people got together in groups of more than two, but as kids we didn't hear about it. And of course, there was always kind of a baby boom nine months later. That's why we only celebrate birthdays twice a year."</p><p>"What did the people do who weren't monks and nuns?" Suki inquired.</p><p>"They had jobs. Everybody did their part to contribute to the community. They just had a different focus for their lives. They weren't interested in the years of study and meditation that go along with joining the monastery. It's not for everybody."</p><p>"Did they ever live together in pairs?" she followed up.</p><p>"Sure, sometimes. But without a formal commitment or a public ceremony. It's not that we were against marriage." Aang clarified. "It just never occurred to us. Like we didn't understand why it was necessary. It's not like a law can keep people together if their love dies. And why would you want it to? When our people come together, they take it one day at a time and live in the present. They're true to their feelings in the moment, and they're open to their feelings changing like the wind. No one has any obligation to anyone else. No one feels any jealousy or possessiveness because everyone belongs only to themselves. And by the way, there were a lot more same-sex couples than I've seen in the other three nations."</p><p>"I mean, I can definitely see the appeal of that." Sokka allowed. "You could explore, get to know a lot of people, have fun, and it's clear for everyone from the start that no one's feelings are supposed to get hurt. But you can't tell me it actually worked like that in practice, that no one ever fell in love and stayed together, or that people didn't get their hearts broken when their partner moved on."</p><p>"Of course some people stay together for decades. But it's like they just wake up one day and realize they chose each other every day for the past twenty years, not like they made a promise from the beginning. I'm sure some people sometimes got hurt, but Air Nomad philosophy and spirituality is all about helping you let go of unhealthy attachments and get through that. As a kid I never saw adults struggling with their relationships or their hurt feelings."</p><p>"Well, I think it's great." Toph declared. "I saw my parents in a loveless arranged marriage, and if they had their way that would be my fate too. If people could just sleep with whoever they wanted with no consequences, then at least their relationships would be based on something real, not just consolidating wealth and power in a few families like mine."</p><p>"Well, arranged marriages are obviously terrible, but when two people can freely choose it, marriage can be kind of beautiful." Sokka sounded unusually reflective. "I have memories of my parents being together, more than Katara has, and they were really happy. They used to talk about their wedding, and celebrate their anniversary every year. There was just this sense of stability and security, that both of them were always going to be there no matter what, for us and for each other. It was the kind of thing you don't notice until it's gone."</p><p>"That does sound nice," Aang replied thoughtfully. "I can see why it would be good for kids to stay with their parents the way you did. Especially in a community set up like yours. If there was no monastery to take care of all the kids, you'd need individual parents to take responsibility, and that would be easiest for everybody if they stay together in pairs and support each other."</p><p>"You mean you didn't live with your parents?" Toph sounded like she might be jealous.</p><p>"No. I lived in the dormitory with the other kids, and our teachers."</p><p>"What about babies, though?" Suki questioned.</p><p>"They stay with their mothers until they're about two or three."</p><p>"But not their fathers?" Sokka inquired.</p><p>"Well, a lot of us didn't know exactly who our father was. I didn't." Aang admitted. "And mostly the men and women lived apart, at least the ones in the monastery."</p><p>"But you knew your mother?" Katara wanted to know.</p><p>"Of course. She was a priestess, which was like the highest level of the nuns. She was a strong bender. I didn't see her much after I moved to the dormitory. She was always really busy because she was on the spiritual leadership council."</p><p>"What was her name?" Katara asked softly.</p><p>"Jinora," he breathed. The name had an unused sound, as if it hadn't been said aloud in years.</p><p>There was a silence, one the air bender seemed to feel was judgmental, though he wasn't sure why.</p><p>"I think you're all getting the wrong idea here." Aang defended his people's way of life from criticisms that were only imagined. "It sounds distanced and impersonal to you, but it was the opposite. It wasn't like I didn't have a family. It was like I had a huge family. The whole community was one big family. It just looked different from the families you're used to. But it was every bit as close, and it filled every need we had."</p><p>"I think we're starting to understand that." Katara answered slowly. "The relationships you had, not just with Jinora and Gyatso, but with every single individual who lived here, were just as special and as loving the ones we have with our own parents, or with each other. It's remarkable that this community was able to foster so many strong connections. The Fire Nation destroyed something really wonderful."</p><p>The friends were all quiet for a while, and a couple of them turned over and started to get more comfortable for sleep.</p><p>"Hey Katara?" Sokka called to his sister over the dying fire.</p><p>"Yeah?" She answered warily.</p><p>"Whacha thinkin?" It sounded like his 'stirring the pot' voice.</p><p>"About what?"</p><p>"Oh, I don't know. Maybe about how apparently Air Nomads don't get married?" Yep, he was definitely stirring the pot.</p><p>"I don't have any thoughts about that," she claimed, suspecting it was useless.</p><p>"Really? You're dating an Air Nomad—the last Air Nomad—and you find out that they don't ever get married, and you don't have any thoughts about that at all?"</p><p>"I think I'm 15, and I've only been dating Aang for a few weeks, and it doesn't make any sense to worry about anything that far in the future."</p><p>"Hey Aang, what do you think of that?" Sokka turned to the other half of the couple to see if Katara's response made the airbender worried at all. He certainly thought it should.</p><p>"Sounds good to me." Of course Aang refused to take the bait.</p><p>"You don't care now, but you sure will in ten or fifteen years." Sokka warned his sister.</p><p>"Then I'll worry about it in ten or fifteen years." Katara's voice was tight and testy.</p><p>"That's not like you at all, Katara, to pretend a problem doesn't exist. No way you'll be able to keep that up for a decade."</p><p>"Maybe I'm learning a new approach to life," Katara asserted grandly, thinking of Aang's uncanny ability to dodge all blows, and his tendency to flee any questions he didn't want to answer. It was quite possibly the single quality of his that had frustrated her the most in the past, but now she could definitely see its advantages.</p><p>"By running away from conflict? By putting it off until tomorrow? That doesn't sound very healthy to me." her brother pushed.</p><p>"Look who's talking." Katara had finally been provoked enough to attack back. "What about Suki, huh? When are you going to tell her about Princess Yue?"</p><p>"What?" Sokka sounded utterly baffled. "Suki, what's she talking about?"</p><p>"I'm sorry, Suki," Katara called across the fire. She felt terrible for breaking her friend's confidence, just because she was trying to strike back at her brother.</p><p>"It's ok. I'm sorry I asked about Air Nomad weddings." Suki called back.</p><p>Sokka was whispering frantically to his girlfriend, who told him they could talk later.</p><p>"Ugh, the relationship drama! Can't we all just get some sleep?" Toph yelled. The threat from the younger girl was enough to make the others finally quiet down and shut their eyes.</p><p>__________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>As they prepared to leave, Katara realized that she and Aang hadn't kissed on the lips once during this entire visit. On the journey to the south pole, they'd spent hours joined at the mouth, and while visiting her family, they had always kissed good morning and good night, and stolen a few minutes alone together at least once each day. It was quite a change, so it was somewhat surprising she'd barely noticed until now. She had been so tuned in to his needs that it hadn't even occurred to her to kiss him as he cried, an instinct she was thankful for now because she was sure it had been correct. Kissing would have been an inappropriate distraction from his piercing sadness, turning him aside from pain he couldn't truly avoid. He had been so raw and vulnerable, it would have felt like taking advantage. And she also had an idea that it might have been almost dangerous, bringing opposite feelings together at a moment of such intensity—she imagined striking water with lighting. He hadn't needed her kisses, but he'd needed her. She was grateful they'd gotten together before returning to this place, because she wouldn't have been able to offer him comfort in such an intimate way if things between them had been awkward or unsettled.</p><p>As the others finished packing up the camping gear the next morning, Aang took Katara up on his glider for one last look from the rooftop that gave the best view of the whole Air Temple.</p><p>"It wasn't easy, but I'm really glad we came," he told her. "I don't think it will be as hard next time. But I couldn't have gotten through it without you."</p><p>One of his hands lingered at the small of her back, and she turned toward him, clasping her hands loosely around his waist.</p><p>"I'm glad I was able to help. I just wish I could do more. Take all your pain away. Or bring them back for you."</p><p>"Me too." He gave her a sad half smile. "They would have loved you too."</p><p>"I would have loved to meet them. The people who helped make you you."</p><p>"I guess you'll have to settle for me talking your ear off about them every once in a while."</p><p>"If that's the closest I can get, I'll take it."</p><p>Aang moved closer, until his forehead touched hers. They kissed lightly, almost hesitantly. "Thank you," he breathed. "Thank you. Thank you." His lips held hers in a tender way that was beginning to feel like home. The kiss was just about to deepen, when suddenly he pulled away, only a little, and rubbed his thumbs under her eyes.</p><p>"What's this?" he asked.</p><p>Katara was at a loss to explain the two tears that had spilled down her cheeks without her awareness. "My turn, I guess." She blinked and sniffed. "I think I'm done."</p><p>"Well, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here. I owe you that, and more."</p><p>"I know that. But I'm not keeping a ledger. There are no debts between us." She assured him with a shake of her head.</p><p>"Of course. It's not just between us: you wipe the universe's books clean. You balance out all I've lost."</p><p>She looked at him quizzically. "I don't understand."</p><p>"I would give anything to bring my people back. Anything but you. All by yourself, you mean as much to me as everyone who once lived here."</p><p>Her eyes widened and mouth opened, as she took in that overwhelming statement. "That's too much," she murmured, dismayed. How could she possibly live up to that? How could any one person replace an entire family, community, culture?</p><p>"You're right, maybe it is," he backed off immediately, afraid he'd scared her. "Are you ready to fly back down? I'm sure the others are finished packing by now."</p><p>She nodded, still shaken. "Wait. One more kiss." Her lips searched his for the meaning of his declaration, while he couldn't seem to decide between keeping his kiss guarded and short, and using it to show her what he'd tried to say, to convince her that there were no expectations attached to his words, and she could never fail him.</p><p>The kiss settled nothing and left them both wanting more: more answers, more contact. There was no time for either, though. They mounted the glider and rejoined their friends for the journey to the northeast.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Note: I did do some research and the sky burial idea comes from a real practice from Tibet, which is where the inspiration for the Air Nomad culture comes from. My research was not extensive, so I apologize if I got this wrong or presented it insensitively. I know I'm not the first fanfic writer to use a similar idea, either, but I lost track of which writer to cite, sorry.</p><p>This fic has become my own AU, and I've taken some liberties to shape Air Nomad culture the way I wanted it to be in this universe. Some of this has basis in canon, some is my own. I thought Aang and Katara needed some more conflict in their relationship, and it only makes sense that they would have some serious cultural differences to work out. And like all couples, they have to figure out exactly what commitment means to them. This does not necessarily mean there will never be a Kataang wedding. Just that there may be some bumps on the road to that destination, as in any decent story.</p><p>If you've seen The Legend of Korra, you know where I came up with the name Jinora. I thought Tenzin might have used his grandmother's name for his daughter.</p><p>Next chapter: Kyoshi Island. This chapter will focus on Sokka/Suki.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Kyoshi Island</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter picks up soon after the action of the previous chapter, later the same day.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aang perched on Appa's head as he flew from the Southern Air Temple to Kyoshi Island, berating himself internally. He'd done it now. He'd come on too strong and frightened her off. He'd meant only to tell Katara how important she was to him, the vital place she held in his life, but she was right, it was too much. Of course she couldn't take the place of an entire nation. It was unfair of him to put that on her, no matter what Guru Pathik had said about it. It wasn't healthy. He wasn't healthy. How could he be, after such an enormous loss?</p>
<p>Katara sat in one corner of the saddle. Each of the other passengers had their own corner. It had been silent for the past hour. Toph was making shapes with the bit of meteor metal that she usually wore as a bracelet. Sokka and Suki weren't cuddling as they usually did; Katara felt somewhat responsible for that. She just kept replaying what Aang had said to her again and again in her head. She was afraid he had felt rejected by her instinctive recoil from his disturbing declaration. Should it have been so overwhelming? Was it really all that different from the three words she had recently realized she was waiting for him to say?</p>
<p>Aang sensed movement behind him and looked back. Katara was joining him on Appa's head. If she wanted to talk and to be closer to him, that had to be a good sign. She settled next to him.</p>
<p>"Sorry if I was too needy," he apologized, looking ahead.</p>
<p>"No, not at all," she reassured him, touching his arm. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. I'm just glad if I can make you feel a little better. Or at least be with you through it."</p>
<p>"You're really good at that," he told her. "You make the unbearable, bearable." Maybe she thought his apology had been about the nights he'd spent crying all over her. He supposed that was part of it. A different, but related, example of his neediness, also stemming from the loss of his people. Maybe she was just going to pretend he'd never said it. That might be best. At least it seemed like he hadn't totally scared her away.</p>
<p>"Even with help, it's a lot to bear. You're so strong." She marveled at his resilience.</p>
<p>"You were strong for me." He insisted.</p>
<p>Katara took his hand, lacing their fingers together. "I figured out why I was crying that little bit." she ventured.</p>
<p>"Oh?"</p>
<p>"It meant a lot to me to hear you say thank you. And I had missed kissing you. A lot."</p>
<p>"Huh. I guess we hadn't kissed in a while. Sorry about that. And I hope I always appreciate you as you deserve."</p>
<p>Maybe that was how he'd meant it, as appreciation, Katara mused to herself. Maybe he'd exaggerated. He'd done that before for sure. She rested her head on her boyfriend's shoulder for a minute, tracing the blue line on his arm with her finger. It felt comfortable and safe, even while flying through the air unsecured. She stayed there with him for the rest of the trip.</p>
<p>That night when they camped in a forest, there were five tents, which wasn't normal. Sokka and Suki weren't sharing, but went to bed early anyway. Katara took Aang by the hand and led him into the woods, away from the others. She kissed him until she'd thoroughly reacquainted herself with every contour of his lips, and he responded with his usual enthusiasm. But somehow it wasn't quite enough to give him assurance or to quiet her doubts. Probably she shouldn't expect kisses to do that, she realized.</p>
<p>"Are you happy?" she whispered in his ear. It wasn't exactly the question she wanted to ask, but it was close.</p>
<p>"Right now? Yes. You make me happy."</p>
<p>"Same." He pulled back to look at her and smiled at hearing that. "That's what I told Gran Gran." she confided.</p>
<p>"Really?" Somehow it meant more to him, knowing that she'd shared that with someone so important to her.</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>"What did she say?"</p>
<p>"'Then you must wander with him.'" Katara imitated her grandmother's voice.</p>
<p>"I'm glad she approves."</p>
<p>"Of course she does," the water bender assured her boyfriend. "You know she sent us after you? When you were on the Fire Nation ship?"</p>
<p>"You said she knew, that you and Sokka weren't running away from home to join me, but you didn't say she told you to go."</p>
<p>"I think what changed her mind about you was when you gave yourself up for the sake of our village. It was a pretty heroic move."</p>
<p>"It was the only decent thing I could have done." Aang shrugged. "I felt so terrible for bringing the Fire Nation down upon you all. And later, on Kyoshi Island too."</p>
<p>They both thought of their destination, which they'd last seen in smoking ruins. "Maybe we'll be able to help them rebuild, if they still need it." Katara suggested.</p>
<p>"Yeah. That's part of the point of the victory tour, isn't it?"</p>
<p>"Exactly."</p>
<p>They exchanged a few more short kisses, then walked back to the campsite, where they slept fitfully in their separate tents.</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Almost as soon as Appa landed in the middle of the square in Kyoshi Island Village, an excited crowd gathered around the Avatar and his friends. They greeted the other Kyoshi Warriors, Suki's parents, and the mayor. There was even some weirdo frothing at the mouth. Katara thought she might have to examine the man later and see if he needed some healing. They had just settled Appa in a stable that had been readied for him, when a uniquely annoying sound reached their ears.</p>
<p>"Aangie!" A chorus of high-pitched voices behind them cried out. Katara winced, knowing it was that mob of fangirls that had annoyed her so much when they'd visited Kyoshi Island the first time. She turned around and saw...a bunch of children. They were little, little girls. She didn't understand why she'd ever found them threatening in the least.</p>
<p>"Uh, hi, girls," Aang said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you remember Katara? She's my girlfriend now."</p>
<p>The girls glanced at her and turned back to Aang, unimpressed.</p>
<p>"Are you going to swim with the Unagi again?"</p>
<p>"I wanna ride Appa!"</p>
<p>"Do air pushups!"</p>
<p>"Air scooter!"</p>
<p>"Want to know what's even cooler than air scooter?" he asked. "Water whip! Watch us." He stepped back and took some water from the well in the center of the square. "Ready, sweetie?" He threw the water at Katara in a sparkling stream, and she caught it, turning around with its momentum and swinging it back at Aang over the girls' heads.</p>
<p>"Whoa!"</p>
<p>"Wow!"</p>
<p>"You can waterbend?"</p>
<p>"And earthbend and firebend." He said, in an offhand way, as if it were no big deal. "But the best tricks and games I know are waterbending. And guess who I learned waterbending from?"</p>
<p>"Who?"</p>
<p>He pointed across them at Katara, then put his hands on his knees, bending down to the girls' level to tell them about her.</p>
<p>"That amazing and gorgeous woman you see there, is the only waterbending master from the Southern Water Tribe in a generation. She broke me out of an iceberg, saved my life several times, healed me from the brink of death, defeated Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and stole my heart."</p>
<p>The girls looked at Katara with new eyes, intrigued. If Aang was going to try to make her interesting to them, she might as well cooperate.</p>
<p>She took the water from the water whip, condensed it into a cloud over their heads, lowered its temperature, and made it fall onto their shoulders as snow.</p>
<p>The girls were enchanted. Now it was her fan club too.</p>
<p>___________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Aang and Katara showed off for the girls, even performing their whole routine from Zuko's coronation, until Suki came to get them for dinner at her parents' house. Ty Lee, a few other Kyoshi Warriors, and the mayor were all in attendance to welcome the Avatar and his friends. The table was spread with an incredible array of pastries.</p>
<p>"It looks like the town has been totally rebuilt," Aang remarked, relieved.</p>
<p>"Yes, it looks that way," agreed the mayor. "We were able to finish repairing the damages to the buildings in the main square. But unfortunately, the work took many of our laborers away from the fields when they should have been planting, so this year's harvest will be slim."</p>
<p>Katara looked at the food laid out before them with new eyes. Was this town using up all their meager resources just to welcome them? She made a mental note to write Zuko and see if he could send some food aid to the island.</p>
<p>"Additionally," the mayor went on, "there are several homes in the neighborhoods to the west of here that are still without rooves. We focused our reconstruction efforts on the area near the harbor, where people come to trade."</p>
<p>"Toph and I could build you some stone dwellings." Aang volunteered. "Is that ok with you, Sifu?"</p>
<p>"Sure," the girl answered, her mouth half full of pastry. "I can do metal rooves too, if you have the materials."</p>
<p>The mayor looked delighted. "That would be a weight off my mind. And I'm sure the families would be most grateful," he replied.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Suki was surrounded by her fellow Kyoshi Warriors, who wanted to tell her about their return journeys and their progress in training, and by her teary parents, who kept touching the medal she'd been awarded by the Earth King. She barely recognized her younger sister, who had grown several inches, and was now old enough to join the fighting unit.</p>
<p>"I'm so glad you're back! I need a break! I didn't realize how exhausting our training sessions were until I was leading all of them!" Her second-in-command, Ling, hinted.</p>
<p>"You're not leading them all," Ty Lee put in. "I've been teaching the girls chi blocking."</p>
<p>"That's wonderful!" Suki was excited to hear that. Chi blocking would give her girls a way to face benders on a more equal footing. It might ensure that they would never be vulnerable to someone like Azula ever again. How fitting that the Fire princess's former friend would be the one to give them that new skill. She relished the idea of commanding a squad of unbeatable warriors, able to bring down even the strongest benders.</p>
<p>The Kyoshi Islanders asked about the South Pole and the Air Temple, about the Earth King and Ba Sing Se. The visitors told stories of their travels until night fell.</p>
<p>_______________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Aang and Katara walked back alone to the house where they'd be staying. They passed the statue of Kyoshi, watching the village from high on top of a pole. They stopped and looked up at her.</p>
<p>"I'm curious about your past lives, Katara remarked. "To know what's constant and what's not. What is it about you that doesn't die, and what part is uniquely you."</p>
<p>"I don't have much of a clue about that stuff myself," Aang admitted. "There are times when the previous Avatars feel like total strangers to me. And then I have other random moments of familiarity or déjà vu, when I hear about something one of them did and think, of course. That's exactly what I would have done, too."</p>
<p>"I guess you'll have several lifetimes to figure it out." Katara replied. "I only have one, so I have to study up. It might be an interesting research project. Not every girl can learn about her boyfriend's inner life through reading history books."</p>
<p>"Research away." he invited her. "I don't have any secrets from you. In this life or past ones."</p>
<p>"No, but you might have some secrets from yourself. And from historians."</p>
<p>"That's true. Historians always leave out the interesting stuff. That's why reading about the lives of the Avatars might bore you after a while. I'd skip completely over Szeto. He was a Fire Nation bureaucrat."</p>
<p>"An Avatar with a desk job?" she cocked her head to the side. "That does sound odd. Which is intriguing in its own way."</p>
<p>"I might not ever understand your interests." Aang shook his head at her and they moved on, leaving Kyoshi behind.</p>
<p>"I was surprised how much fun it was playing with those girls," Katara changed the subject. "They're just kids."</p>
<p>"Yeah. You know they never really wanted to date me or anything."</p>
<p>She narrowed her eyes at him skeptically.</p>
<p>"Ok, fine, they might have. But what does dating even mean to an eight-year-old?"</p>
<p>"Fair enough."</p>
<p>"They were just fascinated by my bending because they'd never seen it before, and once I taught them a few games they wanted to play all day. It got kind of irritating, to be honest. I wouldn't have hung out with them so much except for the fact that it seemed to bother you."</p>
<p>Her jaw dropped in mock outrage. "You were using them to make me jealous?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. It was a pretty dumb idea." Aang admitted sheepishly.</p>
<p>"So dumb it worked."</p>
<p>"You were jealous?"</p>
<p>"I was annoyed that you let their attention go to your head." Katara corrected him.</p>
<p>"I really only wanted attention from you. I kept trying to show off for you and you didn't even look." He pouted.</p>
<p>"I was busy trying to keep things together. Doing all the little jobs that no one notices until they don't get done. Mending pants, gathering food and supplies."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know. Sokka and I should have helped you out with that stuff more, I guess."</p>
<p>"It would have been nice. And then I would have had plenty of time left over to watch you do tricks."</p>
<p>"I'll keep that in mind. Doing chores equals more free time for Katara, equals more fun for me."</p>
<p>"The women in my village are always complaining that their husbands can't seem to figure that equation out." Katara said, bemused.</p>
<p>"I don't know whether to be proud that I'm a step ahead of adult men in figuring out relationships, or disgusted that they're so lazy."</p>
<p>"Personally, I land solidly on that second one. But if you manage to follow through, I'll give you credit for the first."</p>
<p>"Challenge accepted."</p>
<p>_____________________________________________________________________</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sokka and Suki went to the Kyoshi Warriors' practice gym for a sparring session. He looked through their practice weapons and borrowed a broadsword that approximated his lost space sword's weight and dimensions. Suki, wearing her green armored dress uniform but no makeup, opened her fans and got in position. She smirked at her boyfriend and beckoned him with a fan. He swung the sword and she blocked him again and again with her fans. Sokka faked with the sword so that he could get close enough to knock her onto her back with his elbow. She flipped up into a deep squat, her body low and ungainly as she recovered.</p>
<p>"Not exactly the prettiest move, but effective." Sokka remarked with a cocky half smile.</p>
<p>She narrowed her eyes at him and threw down her fans. Stalking to the corner, she picked up a spear from a storage urn. Then she ran at him, holding the spear in both hands as she parried his sword, putting him on the defensive.</p>
<p>There seemed to be some real anger in Suki's rush, which mystified him. What had he done to deserve that? Sokka's bafflement turned to resentment, and he attacked back just as hard. He charged at Suki, sword raised, intending to cut her spear in two, when she moved at the last second. The sharp point of the spear cut his pants near the knee, piercing his skin just enough to draw a single drop of blood.</p>
<p>"Hey, that was my bad leg! And my good pants!"</p>
<p>"If I'd really been trying to gore your leg, you'd be crippled now." Suki used her captain voice to justify herself. "That was probably the clearest telegraphing I've ever seen. You'll always be sloppy if I let you use poor technique with no consequences."</p>
<p>"All right, time out." Sokka called it. If they kept this up, they would either end up with serious injuries, or all their clothes cut to ribbons. That second one had some interesting potential, but Suki was clearly not in that kind of mood.</p>
<p>They sat side by side on a bench catching their breath.</p>
<p>"We need to talk." Suki stated firmly, staring straight ahead.</p>
<p>Sokka sighed, resigned. "I know."</p>
<p>"So tell me about Princess Yue." she demanded.</p>
<p>"I don't know what to tell you." He felt trapped. "Anything I say about her, you'll take it as an insult, or at least as a comparison."</p>
<p>"Ok, that's fair." Suki took a deep breath and the fight went out of her voice. "I'll try to stop that and just listen."</p>
<p>Sokka glanced at her to see if he could trust that, and took a deep breath. "All right. She was a princess of the Northern Water Tribe. She had blue eyes and dark skin and light hair that she arranged in this kind of crazy hairdo. I saw her floating down the canal and it was like boom. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I got all flustered and awkward when I tried to talk to her. I even fell in the canal. We went on a couple of dates. I took her up on Appa. She was engaged to this jerk because her father picked him out for her. The guy basically admitted that he didn't care about her and was just using her to further his career, so I got in a fight with him. Thanks to that stupid arranged betrothal, our relationship was very...dramatic. She was hot, then cold, then hot again. She kisses me, then tells me she's engaged, says she likes me, but she likes me too much, whatever that means. It was confusing. Anyway, Commander Zhao of the Fire Nation had this crazy idea to take away the waterbenders' power by killing the moon, and it actually worked. But it turned out when she was a baby, the moon spirit had saved Yue's life by giving her some of its own essence, so she decided to kind of...give it back, and sacrifice herself. She touched the body of Tui, the sacred koi fish, and I guess she just offered up her life. I caught her when she fell, and I could tell she was gone. Then her spirit rose up, gigantic and translucent and more beautiful than ever, and she said to me, "I'll always be with you," and kissed me, and disappeared."</p>
<p>They were both silent for a while. Suki seemed stunned by the revelation, Sokka drained by the effort of telling the story.</p>
<p>"Did you love her?" she finally asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah. I think I did." he nodded slowly. "We didn't have much time together, and didn't get to know each other very well, but she was an amazing person, and we had a real connection."</p>
<p>"Did you love her more?" Suki's voice was small, as if she were ashamed to ask.</p>
<p>"That's impossible to answer." Sokka didn't know how to be honest and kind to both girls when responding to such a question. He'd wanted to avoid making comparisons, but it turned out that was exactly what she wanted from him. "I loved her differently. My love for her was less mature. More chaste. More...reverent. She was...untouchable. Not of this world. You're more of a partner to me. An equal. She didn't change me the way you have."</p>
<p>"If she hadn't...passed away, would you still be with her?"</p>
<p>"I have no idea!" Sokka threw up his hands. Speculations like this were maddening, but Suki clearly expected an actual answer. "For all I know, she still would have married that jerk! Although I never saw him again after the battle, maybe he didn't make it. I know she wouldn't have joined our group the way you did, and I wouldn't have stayed behind because Aang and Katara still needed me. If Yue and I had tried to have a long distance relationship, then I might have ended up cheating on her with you. When I imagine a future I might have had with her, I think I might have ended up stuck at the North Pole, because she wouldn't have ever left, and I'd have had no real status of my own there. I would have just been her consort or whatever. I don't think I would have liked that. So maybe it was ill-fated from the start." Sokka took a deep breath and tried to sum up his feelings. "In the end, I'm sad that Yue had to give her life to restore balance, but especially now that the whole war is over, I think I'm starting to accept it, and see it as one of many heartbreaking and terrible things that had to happen for the world to be at peace the way it is now. And in a way, she's not really gone. Sometimes at night I look up at the moon and talk to her."</p>
<p>"Is that what you were doing on the Serpent's Pass when I started telling you I liked you?" Suki's hand was over her heart. She looked like she felt betrayed.</p>
<p>"It was instinctive." He explained his rejection, sensing that it was too late and no explanation would do. "It felt faithless, with her looking down on us like that. But then I spent that whole night and the next day kicking myself, and I decided I couldn't let you say goodbye without a real kiss. I'm just grateful you gave me a second chance."</p>
<p>"Sokka, I can't compete with an immortal spirit. And if you didn't know her all that well when she was alive, that makes it all the easier for you to idealize her and pretend that she was perfect. She's always going to be young and beautiful, and I'm always going to be human and flawed, and every night, you're going to see her in the sky and remember that."</p>
<p>Her words sounded really final. It was all true, but also completely off base. Sokka wanted to contradict her, but didn't know how, and decided not to try. "So what does that mean for us?" he asked, exhausted.</p>
<p>"I don't know. I have to think about it."</p>
<p>She picked up her fans, jammed them into her waistband, and swept out of the gym.</p>
<p>__________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>The next morning, Aang and Katara took the girls to the beach, where they had plenty of space to do some truly amazing waterbending tricks. She noticed that about half of them showed up with new hairstyles that looked like imitations of her own.</p>
<p>They made a small wave pool and surfboard, and took turns giving the girls rides. Between turns, the girls shared snacks with the waterbenders, waiting on them like restaurant servers. A couple of them kept asking Katara details about her clothes and hair and beauty products, as if knowing where she'd bought her dress would allow them to turn themselves into her clones.</p>
<p>"I guess I don't blame you for enjoying the attention of a crowd of younger girls." Katara remarked to Aang as she leaned back in her beach chair. One of the girls had just finished giving her a clumsy manicure.</p>
<p>"So you're letting it go to your head now?" he teased.</p>
<p>"Hero worship feels pretty good," she admitted.</p>
<p>"Not as good as this," he came close and kissed her smile.</p>
<p>"Mmm," Katara purred, returning his kiss and tossing an arm lazily around his neck.</p>
<p>There was a noise very close by. They turned toward it and saw three of the girls watching them intently.</p>
<p>"It's ok, you don't have to stop," one of them protested.</p>
<p>The couple glanced at each other and laughed nervously.</p>
<p>"Uh, yeah, we do." Aang replied.</p>
<p>The girls followed them when they left the beach, even though they had other plans for their afternoon. Aang was going to build some houses with Toph, and Katara planned to write letters, feed Appa, and check their supplies. But the girls wouldn't go away.</p>
<p>Finally Katara turned around and spoke firmly to them. "Aang and I are done with water tricks for today. We have other stuff to do now. Go to your homes. We will see you tomorrow."</p>
<p>The girls stared at Katara in shock, while she returned their stares coldly. She kept looking at them like that until they began to turn around and slink away.</p>
<p>"You can just do that? Tell them to go away?" Aang asked in amazement.</p>
<p>"Yeah. Just because some kids want you to do tricks for them doesn't mean you have to. You have limited time, and if you let people impose on you, you'll never have time for what's really important. Like fixing those houses."</p>
<p>"And you." He gave her a grateful peck on the lips.</p>
<p>"Exactly. You've got to learn to set some boundaries if we're ever going to have a chance." She warned her boyfriend. "And I won't be able to do it for you all the time."</p>
<p>"That's fair. I'll work on that." He kissed her again.</p>
<p>"Now go help some people." She sent him on his way.</p>
<p>____________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Suki and Sokka sparred in the gym again. This time their movements were tired and slow. They didn't strike hard or dodge fast. Each was willing to get hit, but not to do the hitting. The two just circled each other, waiting for punches that never came. It wasn't working.</p>
<p>Both frustrated, they sat on the bench for a break and a drink of water.</p>
<p>Suki spoke first. "I think I want to stay here."</p>
<p>Sokka sniffed and blinked rapidly. He looked up at the ceiling, willing his eyeballs to stay dry. He didn't trust himself to speak yet, so Suki continued to talk nervously into the silence.</p>
<p>"The girls have been without a captain for months. I want to learn chi blocking from Ty Lee, and my little sister is finally old enough to join. I want to be here for her initiation. My mom went on last night about how much she missed me, it was a giant guilt trip..."</p>
<p>None of those reasons had anything to do with him. Maybe that meant it should hurt less, but it also meant that he wasn't important enough to her to outweigh those reasons either. He could do that too. He had a life outside of their relationship as well. "Maybe it's for the best. I was thinking to myself that it might be better if you weren't with us at the North Pole."</p>
<p>Suki gasped and flinched as if she'd taken a sharp jab to the sternum. "So you can be with your beautiful moon princess? How does that work, Sokka?"</p>
<p>"Because I want to say goodbye to Yue. I did love her, and maybe a part of me always will. But I need to get closure and move on, and I think that's something I have to do alone. If you're there I'll just be worried about your feelings, and it'll feel like I'm cheating on two girls at once, even though that makes no sense. I wish it didn't work that way, but I'm afraid it does."</p>
<p>Her anger deflated. "So it's decided then." She stated flatly. "You're going on and I'm staying here."</p>
<p>"It sounds like it."</p>
<p>"Does that mean we're breaking up?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Do you want to break up?"</p>
<p>"Do you?"</p>
<p>"I asked you first." Sokka knew it was cowardly to make her be the one to say it, but she'd always been the braver one anyway.</p>
<p>"No, I asked you."</p>
<p>"You asked what it means, I asked what you want." He insisted. There was a difference.</p>
<p>"I want you, but I want all of you." She looked sadly into his eyes. "I don't want to share you with a ghost."</p>
<p>He sighed and put his arm around her shoulders. It was an almost brotherly gesture. "I don't really want to break up either, to be honest. This doesn't feel over. But at the same time, it's not fair for me to ask you to wait for me." Sokka couldn't believe he was speaking calmly about his girl moving on, when all he wanted to do was scream and cry. His admirable restraint made him feel very adult and mature, which just confirmed something he'd always known: adulthood is overrated. "I'm the one leaving you, and we don't know when we'll see each other again. I can't keep a claim on you or ask you to make promises. If you meet someone else, you should feel free..."</p>
<p>"If I'm free, then you are too." Suki responded stubbornly.</p>
<p>"I guess so. I don't really want to be." He said glumly, dropping his arm from around her.</p>
<p>"Me neither. But like you said, who knows how long that will last if we can't see each other. Will you write?"</p>
<p>"Of course. I'm writing a lot these days."</p>
<p>"That's good. It'll be good to hear from you. And all the places you'll be seeing."</p>
<p>"You'll be welcome to rejoin us anytime. I'll keep you updated on our location and itinerary."</p>
<p>"What if you have another girl?"</p>
<p>"I'll be on the road. I don't think we'll stick around anyplace long enough for that."</p>
<p>"You met me on the road. Yue too."</p>
<p>"Good point. It might be awkward." He admitted. "Either I'll dump this hypothetical new girl or we'll figure it out. I guess you could just as easily bring some guy to join us. He'd have to be pretty awesome." He warned, making a joke of his pain. "And even if he's the Earth King's nephew who's also a bending prodigy, or a Yuyan archer with a pet dragon, I'm sure I'll still hate his guts. The point is, you're part of the team, the family, and that's bigger than you and me. I know the others would agree with that."</p>
<p>"Thanks. That means a lot." She looked up at him with a smile that said she was trying to be strong.</p>
<p>Her eyes pulled an admission out of him that hurt them both. "I miss you already."</p>
<p>Her lip started trembling, and she hid her face in his shoulder so he couldn't see if she was crying or not. He put his arms around her, wondering if it were the last time he'd get to hold her. That thought sent the tears he'd been holding back spilling down his cheeks.</p>
<p>____________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara was looking for her brother. He'd skipped dinner the night before, locked in his room, and then hadn't joined her, Aang, and Toph for breakfast or lunch either. But when she looked in his room, after returning from shadowing the village nurse on her rounds, it was empty. Finally she found Sokka in a nearby clearing, tossing two boomerangs. She just watched from the edge of the clearing for a few minutes. He'd throw one boomerang as hard as he could, and then when it was about to turn around, throw the second. Then he'd catch the first boomerang and toss it away again just as quickly. Between the flinging and returning of the two projectiles, all of his attention and energy were engaged.</p>
<p>"Hey," she announced herself.</p>
<p>He glanced at her, and threw the boomerang he'd just caught. "Hey."</p>
<p>"Are you ok? You don't usually skip meals..."</p>
<p>He caught a boomerang, and instead of throwing it away immediately, held it while he watched the other spin in the air. "Suki wants to stay here." he answered.</p>
<p>"Oh, no. I was afraid she might. We'll miss you two."</p>
<p>Sokka caught the second boomerang and looked at his sister as if she were insane. "I'm not staying. I'll be leaving with you."</p>
<p>"But why?"</p>
<p>"She has commitments here. And I have my own commitments too." He threw one of the boomerangs.</p>
<p>Katara was baffled. "If you're talking about Aang and me and the tour, we love having you with us, but we can handle the schedule on our own. We wouldn't want you and Suki to break up because of us. You're free to stay here..."</p>
<p>He caught the boomerang with one hand, the other still holding the second. "Look, it was about staying or going, but it wasn't only about that. And it was mutual, all right?" He hurled the boomerang he'd just caught.</p>
<p>"I believe you, I just don't understand."</p>
<p>"Really? You don't understand?" He heaved the other boomerang, but his timing was off. "You're the one who said I needed to tell Suki about Princess Yue. Thanks for that, by the way." The two boomerangs collided in midair on the far side of the clearing. Sokka stalked to the place where they'd fallen.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry." Katara had to jog to keep up with his long strides. "She asked me because she saw what happened in the play and you wouldn't tell her. So I gave her the most basic facts, and said she should ask you for more." Katara picked up one of the boomerangs and held it out to him. He snatched it out of her hand. She couldn't imagine what Sokka might have said about Yue that could have caused this.</p>
<p>"I should have known I couldn't keep Yue a secret forever." He started walking back to the spot where he'd been standing before. "The fact that I wanted to was a bad sign. So I finally did tell Suki and I guess she didn't like what she heard. That's why I have to go."</p>
<p>"Again, I don't understand." Katara repeated.</p>
<p>"I have unfinished business in the North," he replied vaguely, with a dark edge to his voice.</p>
<p>What could that possibly mean? Katara was almost afraid to ask. She decided to try to put her usual optimistic spin on this new development. "So the two of you will wait, and write each other long letters, and after you take care of that unfinished business, then you and Suki can be together again!" She finished brightly.</p>
<p>"I told her not to wait for me." Her brother had reached the spot where he'd been standing when she found him. He turned and flung one of the boomerangs back the way he'd come.</p>
<p>Katara was horrified. "Sokka, you will never find anyone better than Suki." Maybe that prediction was somewhat insulting for her brother, but she meant it more as praise for the girl she already thought of as a sister.</p>
<p>"You think I don't know that? I don't plan on trying to." The boomerang came back as if his hand had called it home. "But she could find someone better than me, and I can't stand in the way of that." He threw the boomerang again.</p>
<p>The nobility of that statement broke Katara's heart. "Oh, Sokka. You really do love her."</p>
<p>"Yeah, well." His voice was flat, admitting that what she'd said was true, but that it didn't matter. "She thinks I loved Yue more. Or that I still do."</p>
<p>"Do you want me to try to talk to her?" she offered.</p>
<p>"No. It's too late. You've done enough." He stepped to the side to catch the boomerang. "She's made up her mind, and if you or anyone else tries to get her to change it, that will just make it even harder on her."</p>
<p>Katara was touched at how he seemed to be thinking of Suki's feelings, even as his own were a shattered wreck. It all seemed very final. She tried to find some humor in the situation, since that was the way her brother dealt with everything. "I told Suki I would kill you if you broke up with her." She said in a fake warning tone. She wasn't sure if it worked as a joke, though. Humor wasn't her strong suit.</p>
<p>"Well, like I said, it was mutual, so you'd have to kill both of us." He snickered. "After everything we've been through, it would be a really weird way for me to go down, defending my ex from my sister."</p>
<p>"If I saw her right now, you really might have to protect her. I'm not very happy with her at all." The joke was gone from Katara's voice, which was almost threatening. Seeing her brother's pain had awoken her protective instincts. "I don't get how she doesn't see..." how much you care, she would have finished, but instead of being so explicit, she trailed off, knowing Sokka would understand what she meant.</p>
<p>"That's probably my fault too. I must not have shown her, or she couldn't have doubted it." He tossed one of his boomerangs. "I'd warn you not to repeat my mistake, but I don't think you and Aang have that problem. You might have different problems, especially ten or fifteen years from now, but not that one."</p>
<p>"I guess," she said doubtfully. Sokka might think he understood her relationship with Aang enough to make a statement like that, but maybe he only saw their frequent public displays of affection and made assumptions. Though Aang had insisted there was nothing to forgive, neither he nor Katara had forgotten the times she'd ignored, rejected, or avoided his feelings for her before their kiss at the tea shop. She thought of the words she hadn't heard, and hadn't said, that scene as they left the Air Temple, and of the huge compromise she'd nearly resigned herself to making someday. Her brother was definitely right about one thing: she and her boyfriend were not without their own problems.</p>
<p>"I'll be ok." He assured her, catching his boomerang. "I've got you, right?"</p>
<p>"Always." Katara hugged him, feeling the boomerangs clack against each other behind her.</p>
<p>______________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"Did you write it out this time?" Katara asked her brother before the story circle. It was their last night on Kyoshi Island and the village was gathering to listen.</p>
<p>"Sure did." Sokka waved several sheafs of paper at her, all filled with scribbles. "See, half the problem is just that the story is too long to make people sit and listen to the whole thing in one night. If you try to tell all of it, you have to skip over the stuff that makes it interesting, and it all just gets confused. So I decided to just pick certain stories to tell. Certain things to emphasize."</p>
<p>When Sokka told the story to the villagers on Kyoshi Island, he made their own warrior daughter the star, surpassing even the Avatar. With self-deprecating slapstick, he told how Suki had made a fool of him when he'd demanded to prove his fighting skill against her, how she had put him in uniform and taught him that girls could be mighty warriors. He skipped completely over Aang's defeat of the Fire Nation navy in the North, and told how Suki had guided them through the Serpent's Pass, how she'd helped Appa and gotten captured by Azula. He detailed their daring escape from the Boiling Rock, emphasizing the way Suki had captured the warden all by herself. Then he gave a play-by-play account of their attack on the Fire Lord's airships, ending with Suki's heroic rescue of himself and Toph at the brink of death.</p>
<p>"I thought this was the Avatar victory tour, not the Suki victory tour," Toph exclaimed to Katara, disgruntled, when the story was over. "He barely even mentioned Aang at all! And I was only in it as a damsel for Suki to save."</p>
<p>"I think this is his way to say goodbye."</p>
<p>"What? Are they breaking up?"</p>
<p>"He told me the other day that Suki's staying here."</p>
<p>"Why would she do that?"</p>
<p>"Kyoshi warrior stuff. She's still their captain." Katara pointed out. "And she had a fight with Sokka about Yue. I feel bad because I'm the one who told Suki about her."</p>
<p>"Who's Yue?"</p>
<p>"The princess from the North that Sokka dated until she turned into the moon."</p>
<p>"What does that matter?" Toph asked, incredulous.</p>
<p>"I think Suki felt like she couldn't compete with a moon spirit."</p>
<p>"She doesn't have to. She's alive and on earth, so she wins." Toph said reasonably.</p>
<p>Katara remembered her apprehensions about Aang's past lives. Suki's concerns felt pretty natural to her, but she knew Toph wouldn't get it. "It's not that simple," she insisted.</p>
<p>"Sure it is. He can't date a dead girl."</p>
<p>"No, but he can pine after a dead girl forever and make his living girlfriend feel like she's second place."</p>
<p>"Has he been doing that?"</p>
<p>"I don't know. Not on purpose, if he has."</p>
<p>"They're both being dumb," Toph declared dismissively.</p>
<p>"Maybe. But Suki does have some responsibilities here."</p>
<p>"So let him stay," the earthbender shrugged.</p>
<p>"He doesn't want to," Katara answered, unable to explain why because she didn't understand it herself. Thankfully, the younger girl stopped asking questions.</p>
<p>Sokka, Suki, and Aang were surrounded by villagers congratulating them on their deeds and storytelling. It even looked like some of the little Avatar fangirls may have switched loyalties to their hometown heroine. Good, Katara thought. Maybe they can join the Kyoshi Warriors when they're old enough, and put all that energy to better use.</p>
<p>__________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>There wasn't as much to pack as when they'd left the South Pole. They left behind their food rations, knowing they'd have plenty to eat at their next stop, Omashu, which was only a short flight away. The villagers needed the food more than they did.</p>
<p>Suki wore her warrior face and armor to say goodbye. Katara, Aang, and Toph hugged their adopted sister, then gave her and Sokka some space, focusing on the little girls who had come to bid their idols farewell.</p>
<p>As Appa flew away, Sokka leaned over the back of the saddle, watching the island recede into the distance, and finally get covered over by a cloud.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a review if you liked the chapter! Subscribe for updates on Fridays!</p>
<p>Next chapter: Omashu. King Bumi battles Toph for the title Greatest Earthbender of All Time, and has a fancy birthday party.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Omashu</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aang and his friends flew into Omashu just in time for the huge celebration that was planned for the following week: King Bumi's birthday.</p>
<p>As part of the week-long festivities, there was an earthbending competition. Several of the competitors from Earth Rumble VI were invited to compete with Omashu's own best earthbenders. The final, climactic battle was between Toph and Bumi, a rematch of the competition they'd tried to hold outside Ba Sing Se on the eve of Sozin's Comet. Aang had been pressed into service as referee, which made him nervous, afraid he'd end up upsetting one of his two favorite earthbenders.</p>
<p>"If you have to show favor to one of them, make it Toph," Katara advised. "She's the one we have to travel with. And I think she's more likely to be a sore loser."</p>
<p>When they entered the arena, they could already see there was a problem: the floor was made of wood.</p>
<p>"I can't bend wood, Bumi," Toph reminded him, annoyed.</p>
<p>"Neither can I," he pointed out disingenuously. His leering grin showed that he was perfectly aware of the difficulty this arena would present for his opponent. "There are plenty of rock projectiles around for us to bend at each other."</p>
<p>"But on a wood floor, I'm blind." The girl stated the obvious.</p>
<p>"So let's make Bumi wear a blindfold," Aang interjected. "He got to pick and prepare the arena, and that's an advantage. The blindfold just levels the playing field."</p>
<p>The mad king grumbled, but accepted the handicap as fair.</p>
<p>"The wood floor means no earthquakes, columns, or tunnels." Sokka whispered to Katara. "They're both so good, and so evenly matched that the whole competition could be decided more by the rules they set and how they handicap each other than by their skill. That might help Bumi, since he's more tricky by nature, while Toph likes to just charge in and bash heads."</p>
<p>"No metal in the arena!" Bumi called out, pointing to some metal bars that Toph had attached to her belt and wrists.</p>
<p>"Hey, just because you can't bend metal doesn't mean it doesn't come from the earth. Why shouldn't it be fair game?"</p>
<p>"Unfair advantage!" Bumi yelled.</p>
<p>"Metalbending makes me the better earthbender, so I deserve to be able to use it to win!" Toph asserted, stamping her foot.</p>
<p>"Bumi, what if you bring in some crystals?" Aang suggestd. "Toph, you haven't worked much with crystals, have you?"</p>
<p>"No," she admitted warily. Upon hearing this, the king accepted his old friend's idea, rubbing his hands together.</p>
<p>"Ok. The floor is wood, you're both blind, and you both have a 'secret weapon' that your opponent doesn't know how to use." The Avatar summed up the conditions. "Are we ready to start?"</p>
<p>"Did we ever tell Toph about the creeping crystals?" Katara asked Sokka, suddenly worried.</p>
<p>"I didn't. I guess you didn't either. Maybe Aang did." Her brother shrugged.</p>
<p>"If she loses, she's going to be insufferable." Katara fretted.</p>
<p>The match began, with both earthbenders sending stone projectiles at each other and blocking them before impact. Soon it was like they were arm wrestling in the air between them, pushing an accumulating rock against each other's force. Toph moved to one side, managing the flying rocks with one hand while shaping the metal she'd brought with the other. Sensing the girl's shift in focus, Bumi pulled out a crystal and sent it across the arena in an arching parabola, so that it landed on Toph's wrist. She dropped the metal to try to pull it off, but it was stuck, and growing. Bumi cackled, which enraged the girl. She pulled all of the nails out of the wood floor, joining them in a long wire that grabbed one of Bumi's wrists and fastened it to the floor. He kept sending rocks at her head, which she blocked with her crystalized arm, while bending her metal into a sheet big enough to wrap around the king. But by the time she had it ready to send over to Bumi, the crystal had frozen her arm at shoulder height and crept halfway down her side. And all the while he was bombarding her with stones. Toph had to use the metal as a shield, and he tried to punch holes in it as she pushed it toward him. The crystal kept growing as the metal bore down on Bumi.</p>
<p>Aang kept looking back and forth between the two competitors to judge which one was pinned and immobilized first, but it was impossible to tell.</p>
<p>"Tie?" He ruled, his tone more hopeful than decided. He was visibly relieved when both his friends accepted the outcome. Once she'd been freed, Toph was more delighted to learn about the creeping crystals and how they worked than she was annoyed that she'd been trapped by them. And Bumi was humbly requesting metalbending instruction from the subdiscipline's inventor. The two great earthbenders seemed to have bonded over their close match.</p>
<p>The following evening was the formal birthday ball. As guests of honor, the girls were given new dresses with tiny glowing crystals sewn into the trim as decoration. Toph didn't like hers because it was scratchy, and she couldn't exactly appreciate the pretty shimmer of the crystals, but Katara convinced her it would be rude not to wear it to the party. The waterbender loved how her new gown looked, but it had so many crystals it was a little heavy. It was purple, with sheer sleeves and back.</p>
<p>The evening of the birthday ball, Aang came into the common area of their shared rooms wearing the same formal yellow robes he'd worn to Zuko's coronation.</p>
<p>"What do you think?" Katara turned around, making sure he could see the translucent fabric covering her back.</p>
<p>Aang's eyes widened in delight and amazement when he saw his girlfriend. He looked her up and down, and then immediately felt embarrassed by how indecently his eyes had swept over her body. He realized she was waiting on a response, but his mind was blank.</p>
<p>"You mean the dress, or what's in it?" He asked to clarify, but immediately realized his mistake. He cringed at himself and tried to recover. "I mean, because both look great..."</p>
<p>"Watch it, bud." Sokka warned, straightening his crystal-studded cuffs.</p>
<p>Aang's face was red as he rubbed the back of his neck. He barely dared to meet his girlfriend's eyes. Luckily, she didn't seem to mind his awkward attempt at a compliment.</p>
<p>"Thank you. I'm glad you like it." Katara slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and kissed his cheek. "Are you ready?"</p>
<p>Toph linked arms with Sokka as well. "Do I have to teach you manners? You're supposed to offer me your arm. A lady needs a gentleman to escort her into a party. I guess I'll have to settle for you."</p>
<p>They walked from their rooms into a ballroom lavishly decorated with crystals, and filled with well-dressed members of Omashu's royal family and other Earth Kingdom leaders.</p>
<p>Bumi had outlived three wives, two sons, and a granddaughter, but he was still the patriarch of a sprawling five-generation family. Aang and his friends were introduced to so many of his descendants that they lost track. They were seated somewhere between the king's favorite relatives and the ones he liked only sometimes. Servants brought them an array of tasty dishes and they tucked in to a delicious meal.</p>
<p>When dinner was over, Bumi stood to give a speech. "Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today!" The old king cackled.</p>
<p>Katara whispered to Aang, "I thought he was the same age as you. Shouldn't that make him 113 or 114?"</p>
<p>"I think he was a little bit younger than me. And maybe he forgot to count a year or two along the way. Who knows?" Aang shrugged.</p>
<p>Bumi's speech meandered on, as he reminisced about running Omashu's mail chutes with Aang as a kid, shared his offbeat view of Earth Kingdom politics, and discussed the latest palace renovations. After the speech, there was dessert, and then dancing.</p>
<p>The lights dimmed, so that the room was lit only by crystals. The music was slow and stately as the floor filled with couples. Katara found it was nice to be able to blend into the crowd a bit, though she did notice people looking at her and Aang sometimes. They didn't do any of their flashy dance moves; instead they just focused on each other and the minute sensations of their bodies moving together with the music: the rustle and clink of her crystal-lined skirt, the feel of his hand on her back through the thin fabric of her dress, their soft cheeks brushing each other occasionally. Katara caught a glimpse of Sokka watching the dancing couples sadly, chin in hand, while one of Bumi's great-granddaughters tried in vain to engage him in a conversation. Toph was surrounded by boys whose clothes marked them as members of the royal family. The first time she looked at her earthbending friend from the dance floor, the girl looked supremely bored by the guys who were trying to get her attention, but on their second pass around the room, Katara noticed that Toph was talking animatedly to the two homeliest ones in the group, twins with acne scars, bushy eyebrows, and the uneven squint of their great-grandfather. They seemed fascinated by the way she was making her meteorite bracelet into different shapes.</p>
<p>When the band took a break, Aang and Katara returned to the table where they'd eaten to rest their feet. That was where the mad king found them. He gestured for the young couple to follow him, along with a small group of other teenagers, including Sokka, Toph, and several of his great-grandsons.</p>
<p>Bumi led the group through the halls of his palace, until they came to some tall double doors. He opened them, admitting the young people to a huge room with an incredibly high ceiling. The surprising thing was what was inside.</p>
<p>It was the giant statue of Fire Lord Ozai that had been erected in Omashu while it was occupied by the Fire Nation.</p>
<p>"I already had some of my own fun with this statue, but I thought a metalbender might be able to be even more...creative with it." The mad king glanced at Toph, leering suggestively.</p>
<p>"You mean like this?" Toph touched the base of the statue, and suddenly it was naked, one part of its anatomy disproportionately tiny.</p>
<p>The room filled with uproarious laughter. Bumi slapped Toph on the back. "I knew I liked this one!"</p>
<p>"It's like that time you were talking in your sleep, Aang!" Sokka nudged him. "No, Fire Lord Ozai. You're not wearing any pants!"</p>
<p>Toph put the statue through a series of humiliating postures, egged on by Bumi and his great-grandsons.</p>
<p>"Yeah, that's exactly how the Loser Lord looked when Aang was through with him!" Sokka was laughing so hard his eyes were watering. He wiped them with his decorated sleeve. "Oh, Toph, this is just what I needed!"</p>
<p>Katara watched, amused, until she realized Aang was gone. She left the room to find him.</p>
<p>He was seated on the floor just outside the door, knees drawn up to his chest.</p>
<p>"Are you ok?" She asked, sitting down next to him, the crystals on her skirt clinking against the floor.</p>
<p>"It was a little weird for me to see them making fun of that statue of Ozai like that."</p>
<p>"Really? Why?"</p>
<p>"It looked too familiar. Too close to what I did to him. When I took away his bending, it was actually kind of intimate." She raised her eyebrows and he shrugged. "I don't know another word to describe it. It was like I saw into his soul."</p>
<p>"He has a soul?" Katara tried to joke.</p>
<p>"Yes!" he insisted. "A twisted one, poisoned by Fire supremacist ideas and his own bad choices, but no one without a soul would know how to hurt others as effectively as he did. There are things I learned about his family that make me want to break down and cry, and give Zuko a big hug. Azula, even. She's his victim too."</p>
<p>"You're a better person than I am," Katara shook her head. "Since you know Ozai so well, do you think there's a chance he might...get better?"</p>
<p>"No." Aang's answer was firm and absolute. "His worldview admits no alternatives. He has no capacity for self-reflection. He's too weak to accept the chance that he's ever been wrong about anything. He doesn't know how to love anything but power."</p>
<p>"That's so bleak." she shuddered.</p>
<p>"That's the existence he chose. He thought he was doing the right thing, because to him, everything he did had to be right, precisely because he was the one doing it. He honestly believed he was a law unto himself, that right and wrong could be defined by his whims. And to defeat him, I had to be connected to higher laws, to a transcendent morality. If I'd wavered for a second, if I hadn't been both resolute and humble, Ozai's soul might have overtaken mine."</p>
<p>Katara grabbed his hand, almost frightened at the mere mention of that possibility.</p>
<p>"I know I had to do it," Aang rationalized. "I gave him so many chances, but he just would not stop fighting me. Taking away his bending was definitely better than killing him, or getting killed, and those were the only other options he gave me. But I can't pretend it was nonviolent. I destroyed a vital part of him. I mean, can you imagine losing your bending forever?"</p>
<p>"That would be terrible," she agreed. Chi blocking was bad enough, and it was only temporary. Without her bending, not only would Katara be defenseless, but she would lose her elemental connection to the sea, to the flow of life in the world. She imagined Aang flightless, Toph blinded a second time.</p>
<p>"I hate that I did that to anyone. I hate that he put me in a position where I had no other choice."</p>
<p>"I hate that for you too."</p>
<p>"I feel tainted now," he confessed, looking down.</p>
<p>"You're not!" Katara protested, touching his chest. "You are as pure and good as you have ever been. You're just more...experienced now. You've gained some complexity and maturity."</p>
<p>"Energy-bending is a terrible power. I don't ever want to use it again. It was like Ozai violated me by making me violate him." Aang shook his head. "I know that doesn't make any sense."</p>
<p>"It makes sense to me. I think I know exactly how that feels." Katara remembered how trapped she'd felt when Hama had control of the bodies of her brother and best friend, the way she had been forced to claim an ability she didn't want. She also recalled the sick rush of bending the liquids in the body of the Southern Raiders' captain, the intoxicating control she'd had over his every movement. She'd chosen that, no one had made her do it. If Aang thought he was tainted, how much more was she?</p>
<p>He squeezed her hand, sharing a sad smile. "I guess you do. How did I get so lucky as to end up with the one person who could understand my darkest deed?" He touched her chin to pull her in for a kiss.</p>
<p>Suddenly the door opened and the king and his teenage entourage spilled out.</p>
<p>"Making out on the floor of a hallway?" Sokka exclaimed when he saw his sister and her boyfriend. "There are perfectly good beds in our rooms. Wait, I don't want to encourage that."</p>
<p>The young couple was already on their feet. "I hear the music started back up. Want to dance some more?" Aang asked Katara, who smiled at him. Gliding slowly across the dance floor in his arms would be the perfect way to warm the chill in her bones. She took his arm and they returned to the ballroom.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My interpretation of Ozai's evil comes from The Promise graphic novel. Inspiration for Aang's words about energy bending come from Imbalance, the graphic novel, although there the idea is mostly Katara's.</p>
<p>Bonus points for anyone who can catch the non-ATLA reference in this chapter.</p>
<p>Next chapter: the Gaang returns to Haru and Tyro's village for a harvest celebration with the former prisoners and warriors from the battle of the eclipse.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Haru</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the mining town that was their next stop, it was almost as if the war had never happened, the recovery was so complete. Ever since Katara, Aang and Sokka had freed the earthbenders from their prison, they had reclaimed the region from the Fire Nation in a series of skirmishes that ended in complete victory. They benefitted from the way the Fire Nation's resources were spread all over the world, chasing the Avatar and attacking far-off places like Omashu, the North Pole, and Ba Sing Se. A number of the formerly imprisoned earthbenders had joined the Avatar's invasion on the Day of Black Sun, which would have left their homes open to attack, except that the Fire Nation had called its troops back to get ready for Sozin's Comet. The area had had almost a full year to bounce back, and the harvest they were beginning to bring in was going to be their best in decades. And now that they had control of the mines in their territory, they were profiting from selling their resources, rather than sending their coal and minerals to fuel the Fire Nation war machine for no compensation. There was a lot to celebrate.</p>
<p>Tyro, one of the town elders, was hosting a gathering to welcome Aang and his friends, and reunite some of the earthbenders who had been prisoners and soldiers together. There was food, music, beer, and a hill-sledding ride for the children, created by the earthbenders. Tyro insisted that Aang give a speech, which ended in call-and-response cheers.</p>
<p>"Hi, I'm Aang. I'm very happy to be here to celebrate your harvest and the end of the war. Because when I look at this gathering, I realize, this is what we fought for. For the release of prisoners! For freedom from extortion and intimidation! For families to be able stay together! For people to control the resources on their own land! For workers to enjoy the bountiful harvest they planted! For prosperity! For peace! Thank you for welcoming us. Now let's eat!"</p>
<p>"Great speech, sweetie," Katara said proudly, throwing her arms around her boyfriend's neck and giving him a short kiss on the lips.</p>
<p>They looked around for friends from the prison and the invasion, meeting again with hugs and questions to catch up.</p>
<p>"Where's Haru?" Katara asked, realizing who she hadn't greeted yet. Sokka pointed at a lone figure walking away from the party, climbing a hill.</p>
<p>"Go talk to him," Aang urged her.</p>
<p>"Really?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. He looks like he could use a friend."</p>
<p>She kissed him on the cheek and went after the young earthbender.</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"Hi," Katara said when she came close to the seated figure on the hilltop.</p>
<p>Haru looked up at her. "Hi," he repeated glumly.</p>
<p>She sat down beside him and waited. She recognized the place. It was the hill where the two had watched a sunset a year ago, confiding in each other about their missing parents, and what it was like to grow up without them. The view was just as beautiful as she remembered.</p>
<p>"So you're with the Avatar now?" Haru asked, his voice husky.</p>
<p>'Yeah," she confirmed.</p>
<p>"I guess that should make me feel a little better. I can't expect to compete with that."</p>
<p>"Oh." Suddenly Katara understood why Haru seemed so dejected. "You, uh, liked me?"</p>
<p>"Of course I do! You're amazing. You're not even from the Earth Kingdom, but you were willing to risk your freedom to save me and my dad. When you stood up there and gave that speech to the prisoners, it was the bravest, most inspiring thing I'd ever seen. You were so passionate. And of course, you're beautiful too. Any guy would have fallen for you."</p>
<p>"Um, thank you, I guess. That's very flattering." Katara had never felt so awkward. She didn't want to encourage him, at all, but she did want to be kind.</p>
<p>Haru went on. "When we heard you were gathering people to attack the Fire Nation, I was so excited to join up and see you again. I even grew a mustache to try to impress you. But then we were stuck in the Western Air Temple for weeks together and you didn't give me a second glance."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry. That was a really hard time for me, actually. I don't think I noticed anyone." Thinking back on it now, she realized exactly how miserable she had been. Avoiding her best friend, nursing a grudge against Zuko, keeping everyone fed, full of regret about their plans falling apart and worried sick about how unprepared they were for whatever came next. Come to think of it, she did remember Haru asking her to come explore the temple with him a couple of times. She'd turned him down without thinking about it at all, maybe without even meeting his eyes. It was probably a good thing she had. If another guy had surprised her with a kiss, it might have sent her over the edge.</p>
<p>"I guess you didn't like the mustache," he managed a wry smile.</p>
<p>"It doesn't look bad," she assured him. "Quite the opposite. It just makes you seem so grown up. Too old for me."</p>
<p>"You like them young?" She looked at him sharply. "Sorry."</p>
<p>"I just like Aang," she said simply. She would have told him that age doesn't matter, but that would have contradicted what she'd just said about his mustache.</p>
<p>"When we were at the Western Air Temple, it didn't seem like you did. I was paying close attention, and you didn't favor him much. I really thought I still had a shot."</p>
<p>"We weren't together then, but let's just say, the die had already been cast."</p>
<p>"No fighting destiny, I guess," he sighed.</p>
<p>It seemed to Katara that Haru was determined to be depressed, and there was nothing she could say to help. Maybe she was the wrong person to talk to him about this. "Should I send Sokka out here? He's got two broken heart stories of his own, and I think they're both more tragic than this."</p>
<p>"Sure. He's a funny guy, maybe he'll cheer me up."</p>
<p>"You'll find a great girl, Haru," she assured him. "Someone much more suited to you than I am. You're brave and kind and good-looking. Any girl would be lucky to be yours. And when you're as happy with her as I am with Aang, then you'll look back on this and laugh."</p>
<p>"Thanks. That's nice of you to say."</p>
<p>She gave him a hug, keeping it very short and loose, and returned to the party.</p>
<p>In the kitchen, she grabbed a couple of mugs, filled them with beer and waved a hand over them to chill them. She handed them to Sokka. "Go take this to Haru. He needs a friend."</p>
<p>"Uh, ok. Did something happen?"</p>
<p>"No, and for him, that's the problem."</p>
<p>"He didn't try something with you, did he?" There was a bit of menace in Sokka's voice.</p>
<p>"No, he just said he wished he could."</p>
<p>"I knew he had a crush on you."</p>
<p>"Why am I the last to know these things?" Katara asked rhetorically, shaking her head at her own obliviousness. "Anyway, he's hurting. Either try to make him laugh, or just wallow with him in your shared lovelorn misery." She pointed at the hill, where Haru's silhouette was visible in the sunset.</p>
<p>"Got it." Sokka headed up the hill with the beers, while Katara looked for her boyfriend.</p>
<p>She found him watching Toph give Tyro an introductory lesson on metalbending. He didn't seem to be getting it, but the girl seemed to be enjoying the older man's praise and amazement.</p>
<p>"If only you'd been with us on that prison platform..." he remarked wistfully.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I definitely could have broken you out a lot quicker than Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen over here," she said in her cocky voice. "Who needs inspiring speeches when you can make the whole prison a weapon against its guards?"</p>
<p>Katara rolled her eyes at Toph's endless self-confidence, and pulled Aang to the side.</p>
<p>"How's Haru?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Sad and discouraged. He, uh, said he liked me." It seemed important to tell her boyfriend immediately what had happened, to prevent any misunderstandings.</p>
<p>"Of course he does. He's not taking it well, that we're together now?"</p>
<p>Katara furrowed her brow at him, confused. "You knew he liked me, and you still sent me after him?"</p>
<p>"I trust you." he shrugged. "And I figured he'd be a gentleman, even if he was disappointed. Best for you both to get it out in the open so he can get over you more quickly."</p>
<p>Katara was taken aback by Aang's simple equanimity. "That's really mature of you."</p>
<p>He put his hands on her waist. "Katara, there were so many times while we were traveling that I got jealous of you and some guy we just met who you found just fascinating. Someone older, taller, more self-assured. Haru, Jet, even Zuko. It made me insecure and desperate, and I didn't like being that person. If I let that continue, even now that we're together, I'll just drive you away. I have to choose to trust you now, or go crazy."</p>
<p>She touched his arms and moved a little closer to him. "You can trust me. You're the only one who fascinates me now."</p>
<p>He grinned. "I know."</p>
<p>The urge to kiss him senseless was almost overpowering. "Want to go find somewhere we can be alone?"</p>
<p>Aang glanced around at the party full of happy earthbenders. "I think I've done enough here." They walked away from the gathering arm in arm.</p>
<p>___________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>"So what'll it be?" Sokka handed Haru a mug of beer and clapped him on the shoulder. "Laughter or tears? To be frank with you, at this point of the night, I could go either way."</p>
<p>Haru's eyes widened. There was an edge to Sokka's declaration that sounded almost dangerous. He could tell it was not his first beer.</p>
<p>The earthbender decided on honesty. "I don't know. What do you do when the girl of your dreams starts dating the Avatar?"</p>
<p>"No idea." Sokka took a swig. "But I do know that when your sister starts dating the Avatar, you sit down and shut up, or else you get kicked off the sky bison. My question for you is, what do you do when the girl of your dreams turns into the moon?"</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, what?" Haru was lost. Was that supposed to be some kind of metaphor? But the Water Tribe boy was going on.</p>
<p>"And then what do you do when there's another girl, but she's not a dream girl, she's real, and solid, and she teaches you to fight, and she makes you a better man, and she saves your life, but then she finds out about the dream girl, and decides that means you never really loved her, and so she sends you on your way. What do you do then?"</p>
<p>He seemed to actually expect a response. "Uh, turn around and go back to her?" Haru ventured.</p>
<p>"No. I'll tell you what you do. You go back to the North, and you dump the dream girl." Sokka whispered it as if he were disclosing the masterful secret twist of a plot to escape from a heavily guarded prison.</p>
<p>"Uh, ok. That sounds like a good plan."</p>
<p>"You're right. It is a good plan. I should know, I'm the planning guy. Hey! Maybe that's what you need to do too. For you, Katara has turned into the moon. So you need to dump the dream girl, and find a real girl."</p>
<p>"What's that mean?"</p>
<p>"Move on. Really move on, not like I did. I kind of half moved on. And if you do the same, you'll end up like me. You'll pine after my sister until you screw up your next relationship, the one that really could have made you happy. And then you'll find out what's worse than never getting to kiss the girl you love: never getting to kiss her again. Because then you know what you're missing."</p>
<p>"I was thinking I would wait it out." Haru replied stubbornly. "She'll get bored of him eventually, right?"</p>
<p>Sokka chuckled, shaking his head. "That would be really dumb. Those two are endgame. I've already accepted that I'm going to have airbending nieces and nephews someday."</p>
<p>Haru cringed, horror on his face.</p>
<p>"Sorry. You might not be ready to think about that. I don't like thinking about it either. Oogie, oogie, oogie!" He shuddered. "But that doesn't mean it's not going to happen. Hopefully not for another decade though." Sokka finished his beer. "Are you listening to me at all, dude? I'm telling you, the moon is really pretty, but she is never going to sneak into your tent. Don't wait. Move on."</p>
<p>"I hear you." Haru slumped, and took a sip of his beer.</p>
<p>"Do you really?"</p>
<p>"Yeah." He sighed. "Give up and find a real girl. Whatever that means."</p>
<p>Sokka clapped him on the back, making him spill a little beer. "All right, you get it. That means we're done with the tears. Time for laughs. Do you want to hear about a marathon waterbending regatta, the greatest snowball fight the South Pole has ever seen, or King Bumi's new statue?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a review if you thought this chapter was funny!</p>
<p>Subscribe for email updates on Fridays!</p>
<p>Next chapter: Winter Solstice</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Winter Solstice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 27: The Winter Solstice</p><p>The burned part of the forest was visible from the air, even a year later.</p><p>Aang brought Appa around and landed him near the statue of Hei Bai. He jumped down from his bison's head and asked his friends excitedly, "Are you all ready to rebuild a forest?"</p><p>The others slid down almost as eagerly, glad to stretch their legs after a long flight.</p><p>"That old guy Tyro was telling me about agricultural applications of earthbending, changing the soil composition to make it more fertile, finding and bringing forward nutrients for plants." Toph told them. "I bet I can fill this burned forest floor with thriving trees in no time."</p><p>"Are you sure, Toph? You've never done anything like that before, have you?" Katara asked cautiously.</p><p>"No, but I heard enough of the theory to figure it out on my own. I had a lot less help when I invented metalbending. I'm the greatest earthbender in the world, remember?"</p><p>It was hard to argue with that.</p><p>"I could bring up plenty of water for the new plants as well," Katara chimed in. "I saw a stream we could use as a source."</p><p>"I could make some tree cuttings and look for more acorns and seeds." Sokka volunteered.</p><p>"I bet some people in that village might be willing to help," Aang suggested.</p><p>They split up and got to work.</p><p>As they carried a massive blob of water through the air, Aang asked Katara, "Tomorrow's the winter solstice, isn't it?"</p><p>"I think so. Why? Do you need to use the extra spiritual energy to talk to Roku again?"</p><p>"Nah, I can call him up anytime. I was just remembering the way we used to celebrate the solstice at the Air Temple."</p><p>"How was that?"</p><p>"Well, I mentioned that we celebrated birthdays communally twice a year."</p><p>Katara stopped walking for a second, and almost split some of the water. "Is it your birthday tomorrow?"</p><p>"Well, I don't know my real birthday, the way most people do here, and in the Water Tribe and Fire Nation." Aang explained. "I just know that I was born in the second half of the year, and so I got counted another year older every winter solstice, along with half of everybody else."</p><p>"Oh." So it was his birthday. "How did you all celebrate it at the Air Temple?" Katara asked, trying to stay casual.</p><p>"Just a big community wide meal. The summer solstice people did the work for the winter solstice party, and then in the summer, they switched."</p><p>"Oh. No, uh, gifts, or songs, or special foods?"</p><p>"No, nothing focused on any individual. The point was just to mark the turn of the season and keep track of people's ages. It wasn't even one of our most important celebrations. Not like Yangchen's Festival or the Nuns' Spring Celebration. Last year, I didn't even think of it, I was so distracted by flying through a blockade to meet up with Roku on his island. The only change was I started thinking of myself as 13 years old instead of 12."</p><p>"So now you're 14."</p><p>"I guess so. Tomorrow, officially." He grinned at her. "What do your people do for birthdays?"</p><p>"We just used to get to pick the day's activities. And the meal. Sometimes Mom or Dad or Gran Gran would take us on a little outing." Katara remembered. "Usually we got a present, but not always. Some years there was nothing to spare. Often the presents were just something useful, like new mittens or boots. Sokka's boomerang was a birthday present the year before Dad left. But even if there was no present, or an underwhelming one, my Mom would still give me a big hug and tell me how happy she was when I was born, and it made me feel really special."</p><p>"That does sound special." He grinned at her, his eyes soft. He liked thinking of her as a little girl. They'd arrived at the burned part of the forest. "Ready to make it rain?" He asked his girlfriend. She nodded. They sprinkled the water over the newly turned earth.</p><p>______________________________________________________________________________</p><p>While Aang went to the village to get them some lunch and recruit some more volunteers, Katara found Sokka and Toph. She told them about the winter solstice, and how it was basically Aang's birthday.</p><p>"I mean, he said he doesn't know his real birthdate, but they used to celebrate it on the solstice."</p><p>"But we do know when he was born." Sokka disagreed. "At least, it's a matter of historical record. What day did Roku die?"</p><p>"Oh." Katara was taken aback. "I guess we could look that up. But I think he wants to celebrate it on the solstice because that's what his people used to do."</p><p>"So do we need to buy him a present?" Toph asked.</p><p>"I don't know. He said the Air Nomads didn't celebrate with presents. But I don't feel right letting the day go by without giving him something." Katara fretted.</p><p>"Well we brought one Water Tribe tradition to the Fire Nation already." Sokka pointed out, remembering Zuko's Circle of Praise. "Want to throw an Air Nomad a birthday party like Gran Gran used to do?"</p><p>"Do you think he'd like it?" Katara asked her brother anxiously.</p><p>"Well, I just know he definitely wouldn't like the way my parents and their friends celebrated their birthdays and their kids' birthdays." Toph told them, shuddering. "Over-the-top formal balls with an entire room full of gifts. It was just an excuse to show off. I'm sure whatever the Water Tribe tradition is, it would appeal more to his non-materialistic ways."</p><p>"You're right, he would hate that." Katara turned to Sokka. "What if you go and get the village ready to have a big communal supper tomorrow night? Vegetarian." He started to roll his eyes and moan, but she doubled down, pointing her finger in his chest. "Vegetarian. Use Zuko's money to pay for it, that can be his way to participate. I'm sure the villagers will all come out for free food. And think about presents. Something simple. If we can't get something together on such short notice I don't think he'll be upset."</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Aang's friends spent that evening and the next day making furtive preparations between shifts in the ruined forest.</p><p>True to her boast, Toph was able to turn the burned ground into fertile land, but she underestimated how much time it would take to cover that much area. Luckily, the ash itself had many minerals and compounds necessary for growing trees, grass, and bushes. Sokka and the village volunteers followed her with seeds and tree cuttings, and then Aang and Katara covered the area evenly with a soft drizzly rain, then pushed the moisture deep into the soil so that it wouldn't cause erosion.</p><p>After a day of exhausting but satisfying work, everyone was ready to go to the village for dinner.</p><p>Aang started to walk toward the vendor that had sold them their meals earlier, but his friends led him to the village hall instead. Inside it was full of people seated at tables overflowing with food. When her boyfriend looked quizzically at her, Katara pulled him by the hand to the middle of the room, explaining. "It's a combination Air Nomad and Water Tribe birthday celebration. Communal vegetarian dinner, and small, homemade, meaningful gifts."</p><p>On the center table, there was an ice sculpture depicting the symbol for air.</p><p>He looked at his girlfriend. "Did you..."</p><p>She smiled nervously. "It was all I could think to do. I'm not artistic, so when I tried to make your face or the Air Temple, it didn't turn out right, and I thought those would look odd as they melted anyway."</p><p>"It's perfect," He kissed her on the cheek.</p><p>She pulled him to the seat at the head of the table, where he saw another surprise waiting for him.</p><p>"My own boomerang?"</p><p>"My idea, her execution." Sokka said, pointing to Toph.</p><p>"It's flint, so you can bend it." The girl explained.</p><p>"Lessons are included. When we had the Boomeranger Club at the Western Air Temple, you said you wanted to learn."</p><p>"This is great, thanks guys! I didn't expect any of this." He gave hugs to his two friends.</p><p>"After dinner I thought we could take a flight on your glider? We haven't done that in a while," Katara proposed, after they'd started eating.</p><p>"You're right, we haven't. A little birthday outing." He recalled what she'd said her family used to do.</p><p>After eating their fill and greeting the grateful villagers, Aang and Katara walked hand in hand back to their camp to pick up his glider.</p><p>"Hey, when's your birthday?" He asked. "Birthdays matter for your people, even if they didn't for mine, so I feel like I need to know."</p><p>"It kind of got skipped over last year," Katara looked away and down. "I didn't even notice."</p><p>"How could that be? We were watching the calendar so closely for the eclipse..."</p><p>"It was when you were in a coma on the ship." She admitted flatly. "I would have forgotten it except my dad reminded me, and I yelled at him for it. I was not in any mood to celebrate."</p><p>"Oh. I'm sorry. I guess I kind of ruined your birthday."</p><p>"Azula ruined my birthday, if anyone did." She corrected him. "That was actually the day I kissed you, to try to wake you up." She looked at him with a sad smile, and could see that he remembered. "I was hoping you might be my present."</p><p>"The first kiss or the second one?"</p><p>"Both. The second when the first didn't work." Just talking about that time made her voice small and discouraged.</p><p>There was a pause as Aang tried to figure out how to respond to that.</p><p>"Just so you know, you have permission to try to wake me with a kiss anytime." He told her. "Past and future."</p><p>She hadn't known how heavily those unlicensed kisses were still weighing on her until he took them off her shoulders. She felt able to meet his eyes and smile again. "Thanks. You have that permission too."</p><p>They arrived at the camp. Aang quickly found his glider and opened it with a flick. He gathered his girlfriend to his side and they took off into the sky. They soared above the forest as the sun went down, turning the clouds pink and orange.</p><p>"Want to try a new trick?"</p><p>She glanced at him apprehensively, tightened her arm around his shoulders and shifted her feet a little on the stand. "Ok."</p><p>"I'm going to lean us to the right until we're looking up at the sky."</p><p>She reminded herself to stay loose, to trust him. Her stomach turned over as they fell to the side, and suddenly she was upside down. Only the air and Aang's arm held her up over the treetops, but they were enough. It was almost like they were floating on a soft wave, or lying side-by-side on a hill gazing at the stars. They glided like that for a minute or two, then slowly rolled farther to the right until they were flying normally again.</p><p>Aang made them descend in wide circles until the glider landed near the Hei Bai statue. They disembarked smoothly and sat down at the statue's feet, leaning back against it and cuddling each other.</p><p>"I do have one last present for you." Katara told him, lowering her eyes.</p><p>"Another?" He asked, overwhelmed but delighted.</p><p>"I wanted to get you alone for this one. 14 kisses."</p><p>"You know, I'm really 114." He reminded her, a mischievous gleam in his eye.</p><p>"Don't get greedy!" She pushed him playfully. "I'm going to have enough trouble counting to 14. You take the thoughts right out of my head."</p><p>"Me too. Let's count aloud together," He proposed, lowering his gaze to her lips. "One," he began. The first 11 kisses were shortish, just lingering pecks.</p><p>When they got to 12, Katara paused to add significance. "The year we met," she named it. He touched her face and brushed his lips against hers with the same innocent gentleness he might have used if he'd kissed her the first time he'd been aware of wanting to, on the day she woke him from his iceberg.</p><p>"Thirteen," he counted.</p><p>"The year you saved the world," she marveled a little at how young he was to do such an amazing thing.</p><p>"The year we first kissed," he added, as if that were the more important event.</p><p>She cupped his cheek as she brought his lips to hers. As this kiss went on, she remembered the one they'd shared at Iroh's tea shop, almost reliving it as she found some of the same feelings fill her chest, even some of the same tiny movements and tastes in her mouth.</p><p>"Fourteen," Aang whispered.</p><p>"The future," she murmured, looking into his gray eyes. They shared their deepest, longest kiss of the night, full of promise for the year ahead.</p><p>Finally, they broke apart, touching their foreheads and cheeks together as they held each other closely and caught their breaths.</p><p>"I'm sorry that you can't keep my presents." Katara said ruefully. "An ice sculpture melts and kisses only last a few seconds."</p><p>"That makes them the perfect presents for an Air Nomad." He corrected her. "We don't like accumulating a lot of stuff, so we usually only give perishables as gifts. It's part of how we celebrate the transitory, temporary nature of life."</p><p>"Oh. Cool. I'm glad I honored your culture without even meaning to."</p><p>"We're learning a lot about each other's cultures, aren't we? I can see the appeal of individual birthdays now. Instead of cohering the community, celebrating one person. You made me feel really special."</p><p>"Good. You are literally one of a kind. And...you're special to me." She told him shyly.</p><p>"Oh, Katara." Aang touched her forehead with his fingertips and trailed them down the sides of her face, framing it in a gesture that was almost reverent. He considered saying those words for only an instant, before dismissing the idea, thinking of what had happened as they'd left the Southern Air Temple. Better to echo her own sentiment, and maybe take it a step further. "If you knew how I used to daydream about holding you and kissing you just like this, then you'd know how special, how precious you are to me."</p><p>"You make me wish we'd started this a lot sooner." She said apologetically.</p><p>"No." He shook his head. "I wouldn't change a thing. It just makes this moment even sweeter."</p><p>After savoring a few more minutes in each others' arms, they stood and mounted the glider for the quick flight back to camp.</p><p>_______________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Aang lay down on Appa's leg and quickly fell into the meditative state that usually preceded sleep for him. Suddenly,</p><p>instead of the blankness behind his eyelids, he saw bright colors. Everything around him looked different, softer, as if in a watercolor painting. Then he understood: he'd fallen into the spirit world. The veil was thin tonight, he remembered.</p><p>There was the statue of Hei Bai, surrounded by trees, bamboo, and lush greenery. Suddenly it moved; it was no statue, but the spirit itself. The panda spirit's mouth didn't open as he spoke to Aang. Instead, the words came directly into his mind. "This is how my forest will look in several years, now that you and your friends have replanted it."</p><p>Aang looked around at the tall trees, the birds flying through them, the small furry animals chasing each other through the underbrush. "Wow. It's beautiful. I can see why this place is so important to you."</p><p>"I wanted to give you a warning, Avatar. There are spirits here who feed on human suffering and misery. For the past century of war, they have eaten their fill. Now that there is peace, they may become restless. If humans don't hurt each other, the dark spirits may come to your world to cause pain themselves."</p><p>"Oh. What should I do?" At once, his limbs felt tense and ready for action. His job would never be done; he should have known this break wouldn't last forever.</p><p>"For now, stay watchful. And hold your friends close. Especially the waterbender..."</p><p>"Katara?" Aang asked, alarmed. "Is she in danger?"</p><p>"Not now. You may be able to protect each other."</p><p>He was a little mystified at the idea that Katara could protect him from dark spirits—weren't spirits supposed to be his thing? But Hei Bai's message seemed to be complete. "Thank you for the warning." He bowed to the spirit.</p><p>"Thank you for restoring my forest."</p><p>Just as quickly as he had entered the spirit world, it faded away. He opened his eyes and saw the darkened sky over their camp.</p><p>He got up immediately and checked on everyone. Katara, Sokka, Toph, Appa, and Momo were just where they were supposed to be, all sleeping peacefully.</p><p>He breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his spot on his bison's leg. But his puzzled thoughts about the spirit's warning kept him awake a while longer.</p><p>In the morning, as they packed the camp to leave for their next destination, Makapu Village, Aang told his friends what had happened to him the night before. They were happy to hear that the spirit had appreciated their work, and that the forest would soon be vibrant again. Then he let them know about the dark spirits, but decided not to share the part where the Hei Bai had specifically mentioned them. At least until he knew what it meant, there was no point worrying them.</p><p>"Did you see Yue in the spirit world?" Sokka asked hopefully.</p><p>"No. Just Hei Bai."</p><p>The older boy looked discouraged. "Well, if it happens to you again, and you do see her, tell her I want to talk to her."</p><p>"Ok, Sokka." It didn't really work like that, but he'd go along with his friend to pacify him. He knew how much the situation with Yue and Suki was bringing the usually lighthearted Sokka down.</p><p>Aang looked around at the campground, now empty, and the rolled pack of supplies and belongings on Appa's saddle. "Are we ready to go?" Everyone scrambled up onto the bison's back and they took off into the sky.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a review!</p><p>Next chapter: The Gaang returns to Aunt Wu. Exploration and aangst! One of my longer and more shippy chapters. Hit Follow for email updates!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. The Fortuneteller</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 28: The Fortuneteller</p>
<p>When the Avatar and his friends landed in Makapu Village, they were welcomed by a grateful crowd that vividly remembered the way their homes had been saved from the previous year's eruption. The town's fortunetelling leader, Aunt Wu, stood on the platform with the heroes and gave a speech welcoming them. When it was finished, and the crowd dispersed, she invited the teens back to her house so that she could read their fortunes.</p>
<p>Katara froze. "Uh, no thank you." She crossed one arm protectively over her chest and shifted uncomfortably, her eyes looking down out of their corners at Aang's feet.</p>
<p>"Really? You don't want me to tell you what you should wear tomorrow? What fruit to eat? Who you'll marry?" She winked at the girl, an innuendo in her voice.</p>
<p>"I said, I'm not interested." She snapped.</p>
<p>Sokka looked at his sister quizzically. He didn't expect to hear that from her, not at all.</p>
<p>Aunt Wu appeared a little hurt. She turned to Aang. "What about you, Avatar? Care to cast a bone on the flames?"</p>
<p>"No thanks." He answered blithely. "I already won my epic battle over evil. And then I shaped my destiny, like you said, and got myself a girlfriend." He squeezed Katara around the waist. "I'm sure my future is going to be great."</p>
<p>The fortuneteller turned to Sokka and crossed her arms. "I'm not offering you a reading, young man. I can see you've already made my last prediction come true."</p>
<p>Sokka grumbled. "Self-inflicted struggle and anguish. Right."</p>
<p>"And you, miss?" Aunt Wu turned to Toph.</p>
<p>"Hey lady, I just met you, but if my friends don't want a reading, they must have a good reason, so I think I'll follow their lead and stay away."</p>
<p>Aunt Wu walked off in a huff. Her assistant, Meng, approached. "Can I show you to the house where you'll be staying?" They gladly followed, eager for a rest after their long flight.</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Sokka decided that the reason the townspeople were gullible enough to believe in Aunt Wu's predictions was because they were poorly educated. So he was determined to give them a few science lessons to prove that natural laws, rather than their local fortuneteller's prognostications, governed the world around them.</p>
<p>First, he had Katara demonstrate the water cycle. She took a trough of water, evaporated it, and condensed it into a cloud that showered back down directly into the trough, while Sokka explained each part of the process.</p>
<p>"So, you see, when it rains, it's not because Aunt Wu predicted it." He informed them. "It's because of the accumulation of water vapor in the atmosphere in the form of clouds."</p>
<p>"But her bending is making it happen." A doubtful townsperson pointed at Katara.</p>
<p>"Yeah, but this is just an example of what happens in the atmosphere naturally. A demonstration. I'm trying to make it easier for you to see how it works so you can understand it. This is the kind of science lesson I wish I'd had as a kid!" Sokka didn't understand what went wrong when the villagers shrugged at each other and walked away, discussing Aunt Wu's forecast for the upcoming planting season.</p>
<p>The following day, Sokka asked Aang to make a model volcano using both earthbending and firebending. As he crouched inside his miniature mountain, he remembered doing the same thing during a fight with Katara at the Western Air Temple. The memory made him grin because of how much better things were between them now.</p>
<p>Though Sokka had been sure they would be interested in this topic because of the giant volcano in their backyard, and the disaster they'd narrowly avoided the previous year, the villagers were entirely apathetic to the spectacular demonstration he and Aang put on for them. He could barely keep their attention as they went about their business. Finally, he gave up and packed up his materials, grumbling.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry that didn't work, Sokka." Aang sympathized. "But maybe they'll remember it next time the volcano erupts. Hopefully way before the last minute, not like last year."</p>
<p>"Yeah, maybe." He started walking back to their house, changing the subject abruptly away from his failure to educate the village. "So how are you and Katara?"</p>
<p>That seemed an odd question. He was with them every day. "We're fine." Aang answered, mystified.</p>
<p>"Are you sure about that?"</p>
<p>"Why wouldn't I be?" Aang asked cautiously.</p>
<p>"The last time she was here, Katara wanted Aunt Wu to tell her every single thing about her future. Especially her love life." Sokka reminded him. "And now she doesn't want to talk to her at all? It doesn't make sense."</p>
<p>"I guess that is kind of weird, now that you bring it up." Aang scratched his chin.</p>
<p>"Look, I don't want any predictions about my future. Know why?"</p>
<p>"Because you don't believe in it."</p>
<p>"Of course I don't. But even if I did, maybe especially if I did, I still wouldn't want someone to tell me my future."</p>
<p>"Because your love life is a mess right now."</p>
<p>"Exactly. Either she'll tell me I'm supposed to be with Suki, and I'll feel dumb for being here and not on Kyoshi Island, or, worse, she'll tell me I'm not supposed to be with Suki, and I'll really have to accept that this breakup is forever, and I'm not ready to do that."</p>
<p>"That must be hard, Sokka. I'm sorry you're going through that. But what does it have to do with me and Katara?" Aang was a little wary. Ever since they'd left Kyoshi Island, Sokka had had sporadic bouts of moodiness, when it seemed like he was trying to get rid of his misery by passing it off to those around him. This looked like it might be one of those times.</p>
<p>"She feels as unsettled about you as I feel about the girl I just broke up with?" The Water Tribe boy asked pointedly.</p>
<p>"Oh." The implication hit home, but Aang immediately denied it. "Or maybe she feels so settled she doesn't need it." That had been his reason for turning down a reading, after all.</p>
<p>"Did she look comfortable and confident to you when she refused to have her fortune told?"</p>
<p>"No..." The airbender looked down, his brow wrinkled.</p>
<p>"You look confused, like you don't know why."</p>
<p>"I don't. I thought we were happy."</p>
<p>"You mean she hasn't asked you about that conversation we all had at the Air Temple?"</p>
<p>"When Suki asked about Air Nomad weddings?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Where you said Air Nomads always stay open to their feelings changing like the wind, and they didn't arrange their lives around living in pairs." The older boy spoke as if he saw these cultural customs as bohemian affectations.</p>
<p>"I know what conversation you're referring to, Sokka." Aang picked up on that tone and got a little annoyed by it.</p>
<p>"Are you telling me you don't understand why that might have been upsetting for Katara?"</p>
<p>"I figured if she were upset she would just talk to me about it." He'd thought she knew she could ask him about anything. It wasn't like he was unapproachable.</p>
<p>"I figured that too. I'm as surprised as you are right now. There's only one reason I can think of why she wouldn't bug you about what all that meant for the two of you."</p>
<p>"What's that?"</p>
<p>"If she never saw the two of you as lasting that long. If she's just...having fun with you, and doesn't think you have any kind of future together." Sokka shrugged. "Probably just as well. If you think our dad and grandma would be ok with you two just living together indefinitely, or having kids, without any kind of commitment, you're crazy."</p>
<p>Aang could not imagine anyone forcing Katara to end a relationship she wanted to continue. She was much too headstrong for that. "What about what Katara wants?" He asked defiantly.</p>
<p>"I mean, she's definitely got the guts to go against them if she wants to." Sokka allowed. "But I think she is going to want to get married someday. She used to play wedding with her dolls. Every responsible adult we knew growing up was married. So maybe when she heard all that at the Air Temple, she kind of changed her mind about you."</p>
<p>"Then why hasn't she just dumped me already?" Aang asked, clinging to logic to stave off his rising panic.</p>
<p>"Maybe she doesn't want to hurt your feelings until she has to. So she'll just keep enjoying herself with you, killing time until someone more suitable comes along. It fits as an explanation." He insisted, against his friend's dissenting glare. "Look, I care about you too. I don't want to see you get blindsided by heartbreak the way I did. It's better to be prepared. You've got to admit, this is kind of how it's been between the two of you from the beginning, isn't it? You're head over heels and she's lukewarm."</p>
<p>"No, not anymore. This doesn't make any sense," Aang shook his head stubbornly, refusing to believe his friend. "The way she is with me-"</p>
<p>Sokka held up his hand to stop him right there. "Look, I don't want to know what you two are like when you're alone. I'm just saying what I know about her as her brother."</p>
<p>"I guess I'll have to think about that." He slunk off, shoulders slumped.</p>
<p>____________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Aang brooded over what Sokka had said for most of a day. He tried to fit the older boy's judgement together with his experiences with his girlfriend, and just couldn't. How could she kiss him the way she did, tell him he 'fascinated her', he was 'special to her,' hold him all night while he sobbed his heart out, if she wasn't serious about him? And yet, he did believe Sokka's words about the importance of marriage in their culture, and Katara's probable desires for her future. He had no idea what that conflict might be doing to her, and the fact that she hadn't brought it up to him was, indeed, very disturbing.</p>
<p>One thought gave him hope. If Katara had totally written him off, if she were really just playing with him, and knew for sure that she wanted to marry someone else eventually, then she would definitely have wanted a reading from Aunt Wu, to find out about the other man in her future. The fact that she didn't meant that she was conflicted, and that meant he still had a shot.</p>
<p>He didn't find a bit of peace until he remembered his original resolution from even before the beginning of their romantic relationship. I've always known she didn't like me as much as I liked her, he reminded himself, and that's ok. But I have faith that her feelings will grow with time, and she might fall in love with me too, if I just make her as happy as she makes me. He wanted to double down. He was determined to be the best boyfriend ever.</p>
<p>That was why Aang had decided to climb Mount Makapu and pick some panda lillies for Katara.</p>
<p>When Toph heard where he was going, she invited herself along.</p>
<p>"I always wanted to see if I could bend lava," she explained. "I'm the best earthbender in the world, so I have to know all of the subdisciplines. I have sandbending and metalbending now, but you need a volcano to learn lavabending."</p>
<p>As soon as they got to the base of the volcano, Toph said she could sense the magma underground. Aang kept quiet so she could concentrate on it. He had his own thoughts occupying him anyway. She's not lukewarm, he repeated to himself. They climbed more than halfway up the mountain in silence.</p>
<p>Then Toph broke the quiet with an odd inquiry. "If I ask you a personal question, will you be weird about it?"</p>
<p>"Of course not, Toph. We're friends."</p>
<p>"Am I pretty? Katara told me once that I am, and she wasn't lying, but I think maybe guys and girls have different ideas about what it means when they say a girl is good-looking."</p>
<p>Aang paused, unsure how to respond.</p>
<p>"You're not saying anything, Twinkle-toes. You promised you wouldn't be weird." There was a warning edge in Toph's tone, which told him that she was starting to feel embarrassed.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry. It's a hard question to answer. I think it means different things to different people, not just all guys and all girls."</p>
<p>"Well, I don't even have a concept of any of it, besides what people have told me."</p>
<p>"I know. I think you're right that guys and girls think of it differently. I think for girls—some girls, not all—they think of their looks as a way to gain status over each other. So for them being pretty is all about who has the more expensive clothes and things like that."</p>
<p>"I figured as much. I've definitely observed that. But it seems like some girls just have a kind of natural prettiness talent that beats out even the fanciest dresses and makeup."</p>
<p>Aang was impressed at how observant she was, how she'd deduced something like that without sight. "So you want to know if you have that 'natural prettiness talent'?"</p>
<p>"I guess so." She sounded a little like she was preparing herself for bad news.</p>
<p>"Your face is pretty. The shape of your features. You have good skin." He reassured her. "But you cover up your face with your hair. It makes you look kind of jaunty and mysterious. But if you wanted to show someone how pretty you are, you'd have to pull your hair back. Like you did when you went to the fancy party in Ba Sing Se."</p>
<p>"I know that my eyes look weird to people. My mom used to say they looked blank and unnaturally pale."</p>
<p>It made Aang a little sad to think of Toph hearing negative messages about herself from her own mother. It made him want to contradict her. "I like looking at your eyes. Even though you can't see me. They're interesting looking. They're a nice light green color."</p>
<p>"I wish I knew what 'green' means." His friend said wistfully.</p>
<p>The airbender felt chagrined at his mistake. Of course colors wouldn't help her understand anything, and would only remind her of the gap between her and the sighted world. He hoped he hadn't made her feel worse. "I wish I knew how to explain it to you."</p>
<p>"I know that green is the color of grass and leaves on trees, and some people find it soothing." Toph said, as if reciting something she'd memorized. "But when people try to explain things like colors to me, it's like trying to teach a nonbender how to bend. They have no understanding of the place where the power comes from. It's like they're missing a muscle. Or a sense."</p>
<p>"I guess it is." They were silent for a minute, trudging up the side of the volcano. Then Aang had an idea of how to convince his friend that at least one guy thought she was pretty. "Remember, we told you that before we met you, we got stuck in the swamp, and each of us had visions. Katara saw her mom, and Sokka saw Princess Yue, and I saw a laughing girl in a white dress."</p>
<p>"And that was me."</p>
<p>"Yeah. But I hadn't met you yet. When I realized that spirit in the swamp was a vision from my future, I wondered, maybe that's the girl I'm supposed to be with. And that made me confused, because I already liked Katara, but then I thought, that spirit-girl is really pretty, and she has a nice laugh. If I'm not supposed to be with Katara, then I could be happy with a girl like that."</p>
<p>"And then you met me and realized we'd be better as friends?"</p>
<p>"Well, yeah. But my point is, that wasn't because of your looks."</p>
<p>"It was because I kicked your butt!" Toph asserted gleefully.</p>
<p>It was because she'd insulted Appa, but he didn't want to say that, especially after the way he'd overreacted and unfairly blamed her when Appa got stolen. "Well, I didn't exactly feel very romantic after you nearly flattened me with a giant rock." He joked.</p>
<p>"You just preferred splashing around with Katara in your underwear." She smirked knowingly.</p>
<p>Aang couldn't help giggling at that. She wasn't wrong.</p>
<p>"So are you telling me a girl's prettiness or attractiveness is only about her face? Not her body?" His friend interrupted his laughter, bringing him back to the uncomfortable topic at hand.</p>
<p>"Um..." Aang felt really awkward responding to that direct question, especially with his girlfriend's bathing suit so fresh in his mind.</p>
<p>"You said you wouldn't be weird..." Toph reminded him, her tone full of warning.</p>
<p>"It's a weird question!" He justified himself. Then he took a deep breath. He did want to help her understand the things she couldn't see. "All right. Um. A...shapely body can get a guy's attention, just like a pretty face. But the more he cares about a girl as a person, the less her body matters. Her face too. It becomes kind of a...bonus." That was how he thought of it anyway.</p>
<p>"And what makes a girl's body shapely? Boobs and butt?" She asked bluntly.</p>
<p>"Uh, yeah..."</p>
<p>"You're going to ask where I hear these things. The locker room at Earth Rumble V and VI."</p>
<p>Aang couldn't help making a face at the idea of those big burly guys talking about women that way in Toph's earshot. "That's kind of gross."</p>
<p>"You have no idea. So how's my shape?"</p>
<p>"Um, it's good." He answered carefully, keeping his voice neutral. "You don't really wear clothes that show it much. And you're young, so you're not really, uh, developed yet."</p>
<p>"I guess there's nothing I can do to make myself develop faster. Should I wear tighter clothes?"</p>
<p>"Only if you want to. Your clothes don't look bad. It's just that looking pretty isn't the point of them. Looking pretty isn't the point of YOU, Toph. What's gotten into you? You're always so confident, and you never care how you appear to others. Katara has to bug you to get you to bathe."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know." She didn't seem to want to explain herself. He had a good guess what this was about, but didn't want to push her to tell him if she felt shy about it. If she'd opened up to him this much, there was a fair chance she'd spill all anyway.</p>
<p>"It might be hard for you to believe me, because it's a great unknown for you, but I really want you to know that looks don't matter." Aang asserted. "Being pretty or not doesn't matter. Not for the people who count."</p>
<p>Toph sighed and made a motion with her head that he thought of as her way to roll her eyes. "How did I know you were going to say that?""</p>
<p>"I know, maybe it was kind of predictable. But I even have an example to prove it!"</p>
<p>"Really? Who?"</p>
<p>"Azula. She's pretty. She checks all of the boxes, has all of the right features."</p>
<p>"But she's psycho."</p>
<p>"Exactly! If someone crazy and violent like Azula can be pretty, that proves that being pretty doesn't matter."</p>
<p>"It still matters, but it's not enough by itself."</p>
<p>"By itself, it's not even enough to keep anyone's attention for more than five minutes." he declared. "And you have so many other things about you that are way more interesting than how you look! Your confidence. Your sass. Your amazing bending skill."</p>
<p>"Would you say the same thing about Katara?" She challenged him.</p>
<p>"Of course. I love the way she looks, but that's the least important reason I love her."</p>
<p>"Everybody loves Katara because she's sweet. I'm not sweet."</p>
<p>"You don't have to be sweet. Just be Toph. If some stupid guy doesn't see how awesome you are, what do you want with him anyway?"</p>
<p>One corner of the girl's mouth tilted up. "If he doesn't see how awesome I am, he's the blind one."</p>
<p>It seemed like Toph's confidence was back at its usual high level, even without any firsthand knowledge of her own appearance. Aang was glad he'd been able to reassure her, but a little concerned about what he thought she may be planning. If his guess was correct, a healthy dose of realistic fatalism might be in order.</p>
<p>"You know, I kissed Katara on the day of the invasion, so that I could die without regrets if I had to. Even when she was avoiding me, and I was sure we'd never be together the way I wanted, I wasn't sorry I'd done it. I think if you're honest about your feelings, you'll never regret it. Even if it doesn't turn out the way you want it to, you can feel satisfied that you were brave and reached out."</p>
<p>"You don't think it makes things awkward or ruins a friendship?"</p>
<p>"Not for long. Not unless you let it."</p>
<p>They'd made it to the top. Aang found only two panda lillies, but he didn't need any more than that. He peered down into the mouth of the volcano and couldn't see the bottom; the lava wasn't about to boil over like it had been the previous year. It was good to know the town was safe for now.</p>
<p>Toph buried her hands in the igneous rock at the lip of the volcano. First she played with it like clay, then it glowed red as it dripped from her fingers. "I could feel the hot magma far beneath us the whole way up." she mused to herself. "I think lavabending is similar to metalbending. The heat and pressure turning the solid earth to liquid, making it flow and change, then harden again when it hits the air and cools down."</p>
<p>"It doesn't burn you?" Aang asked, watching her with amazement.</p>
<p>"Firebending doesn't burn you?"</p>
<p>He laughed. "Good point. I got the flowers, so I'm ready to go down whenever you are."</p>
<p>"I hope they're pretty, because they don't smell so great." She was right. There was a strange whiff of brimstone on the blooms.</p>
<p>"They are. Kind of like you, I guess." He joked.</p>
<p>She laughed and punched his shoulder. Then she sniffed under her arm and made a face. "Ugh. Sugar Queen is off her game. Usually she douses me before I get this bad."</p>
<p>"Think you can take care of it by yourself this time? I'm going to give Katara these, and then we might be busy..."</p>
<p>"Ew, stop right there. Yes, I can bathe myself. Actually, the village has a spa with mud baths, I might go there. They offered me a free one since we did all that work on the lava trenches yesterday."</p>
<p>"Good deal."</p>
<p>"Hey, let's bend some slides! That would be way more fun than walking down."</p>
<p>Aang grinned. There were times that he felt so in sync with Toph that he was sure their friendship really would last more than one lifetime, if it hadn't already. "Race you!"</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara hadn't just surprised Sokka with her reaction to Aang's revelation about Air Nomad relationships, she had surprised herself as well. A year or two ago, if a friend had asked her for advice on dating a guy from a culture without marriage, she would have sadly informed her friend that their differences were irreconcilable and advised an immediate breakup, to avoid wasting years on a hopeless relationship. But now, the idea of throwing away what she had with Aang over a possible conflict years in the future—it was ridiculous.</p>
<p>But what she'd heard was so foreign; it made no sense to her. She had no concept of romantic love except in relation to marriage—either its testing ground, its precursor, its purpose, or its illicit, clandestine violation. She didn't understand what commitment and exclusivity might mean without a vow. From Aang's explanation, the Air Nomads hadn't sounded as if they were exactly monogamous. He did want them to be exclusive, didn't he? She'd spent a sleepless night on Kyoshi Island pondering that question, and decided it was safe to assume he did want that. After all, they'd had discussions about their past feelings of jealousy, and he'd been the one to first call himself her boyfriend. She wondered if his people had used that term, or if he'd picked it up on his travels. They'd said they trusted each other, so she held on to that.</p>
<p>She couldn't seem to stop puzzling over it. Had the Air Nomads all just been friends who slept together sometimes? Did they love each other? Maybe they didn't define their relationships at all, didn't tie themselves down with words. It didn't seem to her as if they were very serious about each other, much less committed. Perhaps they just didn't see sex as a big deal. She tried not to judge. That approach wasn't bad or wrong, just different, she reminded herself. She decided she could try to think of their relationship that way, try to be casual about him.</p>
<p>She was slowly trying to let go of her girlhood dreams of a wedding, and all of the little traditions that went along with that. Of course she could never ask Aang to give up any part of his culture for her, especially not when he was the only one left to carry it on. How selfish could she be! She would never push for marriage or any kind of commitment from him, just as he hadn't pushed her to move beyond friendship after the comet.</p>
<p>They talked about everything, so it felt strange and wrong to feel one topic becoming taboo for them, especially such an important one. But she was so afraid! Afraid to ask for more details about Air Nomad relationships, in case she'd hear something that might make it impossible for her to continue. Afraid her questions would feel to him like judgement, or, worse, pressure to abandon his people's way of life. Bringing it up was tantamount to admitting she wanted to marry him someday, when she'd been taught that women should not initiate such conversations. She only knew she'd stay with him until it became untenable.</p>
<p>And of course, they were so young! It seemed silly to be thinking this way at all. If she'd been dating a Water Tribe boy, she would have balked at any talk of marriage at their age. But then, hypotheticals like that were hard to entertain, because something told her that if that imaginary Water Tribe boy had been Aang, she might not have shirked quite so much. The hard thing was just accepting that it would never happen, that it wasn't even a possibility.</p>
<p>So she would have to make a big compromise someday. That was clear. It made her worried and sad, but it didn't make her unsure. She thought it would be worth it, especially if their eventual life together approximated marriage in some important ways. She still felt that the best attitude was what she had said that night at the Air Temple, and what Aang had said about Air Nomad relationships—living in the present. Besides, even if the conflict did spell their end years from now, and it hurt all the more for the time she'd given, she couldn't imagine she would ever regret having loved him.</p>
<p>________________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Aang found his girlfriend leaving the village infirmary, where she'd been volunteering, and hid the panda lillies behind him to surprise her.</p>
<p>"I have something for you." He brought the flowers out from behind his back. "The rare panda lily. They only grow in volcanoes."</p>
<p>Katara's eyes lit up as she accepted the black and white flowers. "You went all the way up the volcano to get these for me?"</p>
<p>"Of course. I was going to give you one the first time we were here. But then we saw that the volcano was about to blow, so we had to steal the book, and change the clouds, and build the trench, and evacuate the town." And so on, and so on, he gestured. "The flower got totally forgotten."</p>
<p>"You know, on our first visit, Aunt Wu told me I would...end up with a powerful bender, and then you built that wall of lava, and I realized-it could be you. I started looking at you differently then." She confided shyly, as they began walking toward the house where they'd been staying.</p>
<p>Aang noticed her careful choice of words. Aunt Wu hadn't said it exactly that way. Katara's evasion just about confirmed her brother's interpretation of her refusal to have her fortune told again. Last year, the old woman had used a word that seemed to have become unmentionable between the airbender and his girlfriend. He'd jumped for joy when he'd heard it back then, because he'd already assumed he might have to conform to other cultures' customs, since his was gone, and if she was going to marry anybody, he wanted it to be him. But now, he didn't want to admit he'd eavesdropped, or to bring up a topic she didn't want to discuss. He didn't want to pressure her. Better to confess the fortune Aunt Wu had given him instead.</p>
<p>"When I talked to her, all she saw for me was my epic battle with Ozai, and I was like, yeah, I know all about that. I was really wondering if she saw a girl in my future, hoping she'd say something that indicated you, but she didn't see anything like that in the bone fragments at all. I got kind of discouraged, but then Aunt Wu told me I could take control of my own destiny."</p>
<p>"Is that what happened between us? You took control?" Katara teased.</p>
<p>"It did take some guts to kiss you on the day of the invasion." He pointed out.</p>
<p>"I'm sure it did. But after the play and the comet, it seemed like you let me take control."</p>
<p>"I didn't want to make the same mistake again, kissing you when you didn't want me to. And I didn't pull away, I kept reaching out to you, in a non-pushy way." And that's what I'm going to keep doing, He promised her silently.</p>
<p>"I'm glad you did." Her smile was so sweet he couldn't help taking it as encouragement.</p>
<p>"So why didn't you want to get another reading from Aunt Wu?" He wondered, broaching the topic as directly as he dared.</p>
<p>"I'm trying to stop worrying about the future and just enjoy the here and now." Her tone was breezy, but he thought he detected the effort behind that lightness.</p>
<p>He felt he couldn't bring up marriage now, even if Sokka was right, and that issue was already causing them problems. It felt presumptuous. They were so incredibly young! Besides, it was something he barely understood, something he'd only heard about and never really witnessed up close. But maybe he could kind of feel her out about the future in general.</p>
<p>"You know, we can make some plans for the future." He asserted cautiously. "The war is over, things are safe now. Have you thought about what you might want to do? Where you'd like to live?" It was a question they'd touched on while walking to the fancy restaurant for their first date. Maybe she would remember that night in answering. That might be good.</p>
<p>"I think I want to focus on healing. After all, the most important thing I did in the war was healing you. I'm glad that I mastered combat waterbending, but I'd be perfectly happy if I never had to use it again. Except for teaching others, especially women. And for fun. Like bending wrestling matches." They shared a smile. His heart warmed: she did remember! She went on, "As far as where—I've been enjoying traveling. And I can heal people anywhere. But I do think if I'm going to live in a place for a long time, I'd like it to be somewhere with water. Preferably the sea, but a nice wide river will do."</p>
<p>It sounded like she was pretty flexible, and open to whatever the future might bring them. That was a bit of a relief; it might make things easier. "I don't know where the world will need me to go after this tour is over, or even if I'll be able to finish it." He told her. "But I hope you know, wherever I go, you're invited along."</p>
<p>"Good. I think I'd like to keep wandering with you." She took his hand.</p>
<p>It was enough.</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Sokka had a theory. He thought he'd figured out how that old fraud got everyone to believe her ridiculous predictions. The same way the Dai Li had kept Ba Sing Se under their thumb—brainwashing.</p>
<p>But he needed evidence. So, on their last night in the village, he waited until dark, pried open a window, and climbed into Aunt Wu's house.</p>
<p>He seemed to be in her office. There were shelves lined with books on agriculture and climate, almanacs predating his parents' births, instruments he could identify, like a barometer, and some he couldn't. But nothing like the swinging pendulums and chairs with straps that Jet had described the Dai Li using on him.</p>
<p>He heard the door to the room open and close behind him and turned around. There she was, the fortuneteller, imposing in her expensive robes, arms crossed in disapproval.</p>
<p>"So you've convinced yourself I've been brainwashing everyone here, and you decided to break into my home to find proof?"</p>
<p>Sokka's jaw dropped at her uncanny knowledge of his intentions. He realized there was no escape.</p>
<p>"Well, do you see any brainwashing equipment here?" Aunt Wu asked him, gesturing around her.</p>
<p>"No," he answered reluctantly. "You must be hiding it somewhere else."</p>
<p>"You're free to search my house, I suppose, if you want to waste your time, and if you promise to clean up after yourself. But ask yourself first, do my people act brainwashed?"</p>
<p>"No," he had to admit. They didn't have that blank look.</p>
<p>"Then I suppose you have to wonder, how else did I get a whole town to listen to me and do what I tell them to? More importantly, how do I keep them believing me?"</p>
<p>"By indoctrinating them into your cult!" He accused, pointing his finger at her.</p>
<p>"By being reliably correct. If I'd given bad advice that had jeopardized the village's future, I would have been run out of here years ago. So I rely on my barometer and my collection of almanacs for weather predictions, rumors for information of approaching travelers, and most important of all, my shrewd observations of human beings for helping guide them to make the best choices for themselves. That kind of advice is what really builds trust."</p>
<p>"You still couldn't predict the eruption that almost wiped out your village." He pointed out.</p>
<p>"That volcano had been dormant for years. I had no way of knowing it was going to erupt. Since then, I've invested in several books about volcanoes and begun a correspondence with an expert geologist from Ba Sing Se University. He tells me that eruptions like the one we experienced last year are sudden and completely unpredictable. That is why we are reinforcing the trenches your friend the Avatar so kindly helped us dig. We have also held periodic drills simulating an evacuation."</p>
<p>Despite himself, Sokka was impressed. "That actually sounds almost...responsible."</p>
<p>"And you were too busy thinking I was a charlatan to take a moment and wonder if there might be something behind all this." She held out her hands, indicating her position as unelected, unopposed leader of a town that relied wholeheartedly on her judgements in all things. "It was easier for you to believe in a far-fetched brainwashing conspiracy than that a woman could competently manage a village for decades. I bet if I were a man you wouldn't have been so aggressive in your efforts to discredit me. You might have given me the benefit of the doubt."</p>
<p>Sokka's jaw dropped. He'd thought that Suki had thoroughly disabused him of the notion of women's inferiority, but now he felt he had to accept the possibility that his judgement of this older woman had been unfair. "Maybe you're right." He humbly knelt down in front of her. "I'm sorry. You're doing a pretty good job leading this town, even if you do rely on the villagers' superstitions to maintain your position. You knew all about my struggle and anguish. All self-inflicted. I don't know what I should do..."</p>
<p>Aunt Wu settled into her chair, fully comfortable now that she'd won over her biggest doubter. "It's a girl problem, isn't it? No. Two girls?"</p>
<p>Sokka cocked his head to the side, put off by Aunt Wu's eerie accuracy. "Yes. Well, a girl, and a spirit that used to be a girl. How did you know?"</p>
<p>"You're a good-looking guy. Charismatic too. So what's your dilemma?"</p>
<p>He explained about Yue and Suki, what each girl had meant to him, and how they had each chosen to leave him, for their own reasons.</p>
<p>"It sounds to me as if you already know what to do." Aunt Wu shrugged. "You recognize where you went wrong with Suki, and you have a plan to try to fix it. Going to the North to try to get closure with Yue is exactly the right thing to do. It's just going to be a matter of whether Suki will believe you when you see her again, and if she's moved on or not. And that's largely out of your hands."</p>
<p>"So you don't have any advice for me." Sokka felt bereft of the hope that he'd started to feel at the thought of getting some guidance from this wise lady.</p>
<p>"No. You don't need advice. All I have for you is empathy. Would you like some tea? And some bean curd puffs?" She gestured toward a tray.</p>
<p>Sokka nearly teared up. "That sounds really nice."</p>
<p>For a few minutes, they ate and drank in comforting silence.</p>
<p>Finally Aunt Wu spoke up again. "The only question I have for you is, are you sure there are only two girls? What if there were a third?"</p>
<p>________________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Belly full of bean curd puffs and head full of confusion, Sokka walked back through the dark village to the house they'd been given for their stay.</p>
<p>As he approached the house, Toph came out the door. She was wearing white flowy pajamas. Her hair was down, loose, and longer than he would have expected, but brushed away from her face.</p>
<p>"What are you doing up?" He asked.</p>
<p>"I could ask you the same." She replied mildly. He didn't want to explain his ill-advised outing, so he didn't push for an answer from her.</p>
<p>She sat down on the stone bench on the porch. "Sit here with me." She patted the spot next to her. "Is the moon out tonight?"</p>
<p>Sokka sat and looked up at the blank sky. "No."</p>
<p>"Good." She scooted closer to him. Maybe she was cold. Those pajamas were a little thin.</p>
<p>"Why do you ask?"</p>
<p>"No reason. Sometimes I like to know what other people are seeing. Like, what do you see when you look at me?"</p>
<p>"I see my friend." He answered simply. "My teammate." He put on his announcer voice. "The greatest earthbender of all time and the inventor of metalbending."</p>
<p>"That's it?"</p>
<p>Suddenly he knew what Toph was asking. He felt her hand on his cheek, pulling him down to her for a short, clumsy kiss. His lips tensed on hers automatically, whether returning the kiss or closing himself off from it, even he didn't know.</p>
<p>"Toph, I-"</p>
<p>"I know what you're going to say, I'm like a sister to you." She was putting on boredom to cover her embarrassment, and perhaps hurt, he could tell.</p>
<p>Was it better, kinder to make his rejection firm and unequivocal, or to leave a door cracked open and allow her to hope, probably in vain? If it were him, he'd want honesty, even if it made things harder and more complicated. Besides, she'd probably know if he lied outright. "Well, yes and no."</p>
<p>"What does that mean?"</p>
<p>"First of all, it means I'm still in love with Suki. I haven't given up on her yet." Sokka stated adamantly.</p>
<p>"I figured. But if there were no Suki?"</p>
<p>"Then you'd still be too young. Sorry, I know you must hate to hear that." When they'd met, he'd slotted Toph into the "little kid" category in his head, and she'd grown since then, but not enough to make thinking about her that way feel permissible. Nevertheless, Sokka had an idea that if they had been the same age and he'd never met Suki, he and Toph might already be together. She was adorable, and they cracked each other up, and he felt fiercely protective of her. Or was that a brotherly feeling? It was really hard to tell sometimes.</p>
<p>"I won't always be too young." She'd detected the crack in the door.</p>
<p>"That's true." He acknowledged cautiously. "Four years makes a big difference when you're teenagers, but later in life it doesn't matter."</p>
<p>"Then how about this." She seemed to have a proposal ready, as if she'd anticipated his reaction. "In five years, I'll be 18 and you'll be 22. If we're both single then, you have to take me on a date, to figure out if we could be more than friends."</p>
<p>"Sure. If that's what you want." If agreeing to a far-off, hypothetical date made this rejection easier for her, Sokka would gladly pad the blow. It was basically the scenario he'd wondered about himself, the circumstances he'd imagined it would take for him to see Toph as a possible partner.</p>
<p>"What about any other time we both end up single, even years after that? Like a Gran Gran-Pakku situation?"</p>
<p>"You mean if we're both widowed in our seventies? Yeah, sure." He shrugged. Something about the idea of them together as oldsters made him smile. "Although I think you might turn into a pretty cranky old lady."</p>
<p>"Probably. But I would not go to the South Pole to live with you. My feet can't see through ice and snow, and they'd freeze off."</p>
<p>"Noted. Don't wait for me though." His voice turned serious on this point.</p>
<p>"How pathetic do you think I am?" Toph's brashness was back in full force. That was how he knew she'd be fine. "I'm not going to sit and mope while you get back together with Suki."</p>
<p>"Good. Whatever happened with those boys in Omashu?"</p>
<p>"Bumi's great-grandsons? Their social climbing moms heard I'm a Beifong, so they were pushed into trying to get me to dance. Some of them, anyway. The twins, Chao and Chen, they were kind of fun. They wanted to hear all about metalbending. They thought I was awesome because they'd never seen anyone fight their great-grandpa to a draw."</p>
<p>"They're not wrong. I could help you respond to their letters if you want."</p>
<p>"They sent me letters?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. I guess you weren't paying attention when Katara did mail call the other day."</p>
<p>"I never pay attention to mail call. No one sends me letters because everyone knows I can't read. Pretty stupid of those guys to bother."</p>
<p>"How else do you stay in touch when you meet someone interesting and they leave?"</p>
<p>"Dunno. I've never tried before."</p>
<p>"Well, let's do that tomorrow, then. On Appa. But for now, we need to sleep if we're going to stay awake in the air to write." He stood and opened the door for her, but she didn't go through.</p>
<p>"Just tell me, did I do it right?"</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"The kiss."</p>
<p>Oh, the poor kid. Sokka couldn't believe the guts it must have taken to reach out for him like that, unsure exactly where and how to aim. But he already knew how brave she was. "It was nice, Toph." He assured her, squeezing her around the shoulders. "It'll be even better when it's the right guy."</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>The next morning, the town gathered in the square to bid farewell to the Avatar and his friends. Toph hung back a little, listening from the edge of the crowd as Aang, Katara, and Sokka talked to Aunt Wu and some townspeople.</p>
<p>"You know, when they came here the first time, I told Aang I liked him." Toph recognized the voice as Meng, the fortuneteller's assistant. There was something about the girl's voice that she liked, but she couldn't put her finger on it.</p>
<p>The earthbender almost snorted, but held back because it felt mean. "I guess that didn't get you anywhere."</p>
<p>"Nope. So I know what you're going through." A soft hand touched her shoulder. "Love hurts."</p>
<p>Toph would have asked how Meng knew, but she remembered that the girl worked for Aunt Wu. She'd heard enough stories during their visit to understand that there were no secrets from that old lady. "Almost makes you want to give up on men entirely, doesn't it?"</p>
<p>"No kidding. But at the same time, looking at those two together gives me hope."</p>
<p>"Aang and Katara? Why's that? When I'm around them I mostly just get annoyed at their kissy noises."</p>
<p>"Because when I first met Aang, he liked Katara, but she didn't like him. And now they're together." Meng sighed dreamily. "They're proof that true love really will come through."</p>
<p>"Maybe that's how you know it's love. If it's just on one side, it's only a crush, and those pass eventually." Toph shrugged. "It's just that when you're in the middle of it, it can be hard to tell the difference."</p>
<p>"I guess you don't know until you try, and strike out." Meng ventured, philosophically.</p>
<p>"Yeah. That actually makes it easier to let go. Then you don't have any regrets." Toph couldn't help grinning. She didn't regret a thing. "Well, maybe we'll come back sometime. Let us know if that volcano starts acting up."</p>
<p>"We sure will. Oh, and if you meet a hot guy with big ears on your travels, send him my way."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note:</p>
<p>The scenes with Toph in this chapter might be a little controversial, but it should be clear that in this fic I'm sticking with canon pairings. However, I see Tokka and Taang as 'roads not taken' that were interesting to explore a little. In her first episode, Toph and Aang had the best chemistry of any non-canon couple in the series, hands down. And if it weren't for Suki, Sokka and Toph really might have ended up together, maybe a few years after the war was over. These little explorations aren't meant to cheapen or change either boy's friendship with Toph or their relationships with their respective forever girls.</p>
<p>Next chapter: The North Pole</p>
<p>For the first time, I don't have the next chapter ready a week ahead. So I may have to take two or three weeks instead of just one before my next update. Please hit follow if you want to get an email update when I post the next chapter. If you can't wait, drop me a PM and I'll send you a preview. I'm working hard and have lots of plans for where this story will go!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. The North Pole</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the Northern Water Tribe ships spotted Appa in the sky, they hailed the sky bison and gave the travelers an honor escort into the city harbor. Along with a cheering crowd, Gran Gran and Pakku greeted them there, and took them to Pakku's large home, where they would be staying. They didn't even have time to unpack before they heard they were expected at the chief's residence for a dinner to welcome them.</p><p>When they arrived in the ice mansion, they were delighted to see the other guest of honor, Fire Lord Zuko, who had landed just the previous day. After a small mob of hugs, he explained his presence.</p><p>"It's a diplomatic visit. I'll be formally signing a peace treaty, introducing and meeting newly appointed ambassadors, discussing the construction of embassies, trade, cultural exchanges... I scheduled my trip to coincide with yours because it's considered fortuitous when the Avatar is present for these kinds of international agreements."</p><p>"Not just because you wanted to see us?" Sokka elbowed him.</p><p>"Well, that was a factor," he admitted, smiling.</p><p>"Who's in charge back in the Fire Nation?" Aang wondered.</p><p>"Iroh took a break from the tea shop."</p><p>"Mai stayed behind?" Katara didn't see the dark-haired young woman in the small crowd.</p><p>"Yeah, she said she hates the cold."</p><p>The chief had invited only his council and family, and Pakku and Kanna, and the young visitors to the dinner, and talk was more personal than political. The gathering was intended to make the leaders and guests more comfortable with each other before the official meetings began.</p><p>The chief and council members dominated Aang's attention. One of the only other young people at the party, a curvy girl in a fashionable low-cut dress who was introduced as the chief's niece, Eskina, tried valiantly to flirt with Sokka, who looked bored and tired. He and Toph ended up leaning back in their chairs, complaining to each other about the stiff company and praising the reindeer-moose steaks.</p><p>Zuko was seated next to Katara and glad to have a chance to catch up with her. "I wanted to let you know, I sent a ship with engineers to the South Pole to look at that old wreck." He informed his friend.</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>"Of course. You asked. They disabled the booby traps and made a plan to completely dismantle it and recycle the pieces. The work will start with the next spring thaw."</p><p>"That's great!"</p><p>The engineers' ship also stopped at Kyoshi Island and dropped off enough rice, preserved vegetables, and moo-sows to get the village through the winter."</p><p>"I'm sure they really appreciated that."</p><p>"How's Aang?"</p><p>She thought she knew what he was asking. "Visiting the Southern Air Temple was tough. That was where he spent his childhood."</p><p>"I can't imagine." Zuko shook his head regretfully.</p><p>"I think the funerals were good for him. Something he needed to do."</p><p>"That's good to hear."</p><p>"We've been having a lot of fun." She wanted to be sure he knew that their tour hadn't so grim the whole time. "I wrote you about Bumi's birthday, his match with Toph."</p><p>"The rematch, you mean? I still can't believe they thought it was a good idea to cause earthquakes when we were supposed to be getting ready to launch a surprise attack on an impenetrable city." Zuko shook his head at the memory.</p><p>"It's not easy to be the most mature person in the group, is it? Especially when the group includes a centenarian."</p><p>"Do you mean King Bumi or your boyfriend?"</p><p>She started. "I don't often think of Aang as that old, but I guess he is..."</p><p>"It was a joke," Zuko assured her. "The years in the iceberg obviously don't count."</p><p>"And sometimes he does act very mature. It surprises me..." She was thinking of how he seemed to have transcended petty jealousies that would have once caused so much drama. Her eyes found her boyfriend surrounded by powerful-looking older men who seemed to be hanging on his every word. The respect he commanded, despite his apparent age, was remarkable, and she realized that she found it incredibly attractive.</p><p>Zuko followed her gaze. "I probably don't want to know." He teased her.</p><p>She blushed and looked down.</p><p>"It's cute." He assured his friend, hoping he hadn't embarrassed her. "You guys seem happy."</p><p>"We are," she answered. Even with her questions and doubts, most of which she was able to suppress most of the time, she was very happy, especially when she and Aang were together. She was falling in love, after all. When she was in his arms, she didn't worry about the future. That only happened when they were apart, especially when she was trying to get to sleep at night.</p><p>Zuko turned to survey the rest of the party, giving her a chance to recover. "Look at those two," he pointed across the room to where Sokka and Toph were snoozing on a couch, curled up together like polar puppies. "Long flight?"</p><p>"I guess we need to get home to bed." Katara laughed.</p><p>__________________________________________________________________________</p><p>First thing the next morning, Katara presented herself to Yugoda, the headmistress of the Academy of Healing Arts.</p><p>"Master Katara". The old woman peered at her over the rims of her spectacles from behind her imposing desk. "I thought you had no interest in the healing arts." The master healer seemed miffed that Katara had left her class for Pakku's the previous year.</p><p>"No, I do!" Katara insisted, hoping she hadn't offended this venerable lady. "It was just that I needed to learn to defend myself and my friends in the war. And….you know I grew up in the South, right? I was the only waterbender in the whole hemisphere; the Fire Nation had killed or captured all of the others. I needed to be able to fight to keep that from happening to me, or anyone else I loved."</p><p>"I understand. Here in the North we have been insulated from the horrors our sister tribe has endured." Katara was grateful to see that the woman's strictness still left some room for empathy. "I'm sorry your childhood was so difficult, and that you were not able to develop your abilities without leaving home."</p><p>"Now that the war is over, I want to focus on healing." She told the older woman earnestly. "I'm pretty good at it, but I don't always know what I'm doing or why it's working. I'd like to become more confident in my skills, to have the words to explain what I'm doing to others."</p><p>"Very well. Tell me what you know and have been able to do."</p><p>Katara described some of the injuries she'd healed, and noticed Yugoda make an impressed face when she described the burns she'd treated.</p><p>"You have nothing to learn from my classroom lectures." She declared briskly. "Tomorrow morning, come to the hospital and you can work under my supervision. Then I can see if you deserve your reputation." The master healer gave Katara an appraising look as she thanked her and left the room. It made her determined to prove herself.</p><p>That afternoon, she went to Pakku's school, where she offered herself as instructor for the beginner classes, as long as her schedule at the hospital allowed. The classes in Pakku's school weren't exactly segregated, but the beginner class was mostly women, because they'd begun learning so recently, while the advanced class was almost all men, since they'd been training for a longer time.</p><p>The women water benders were excited to learn directly from Katara. Her battle with Pakku had become legendary, and everyone knew how she had trained the Avatar, and fought in the invasion on the day of black sun, and defeated Princess Azula. Her fame preceded her, and some of her classes even had an audience of non-bending spectators, or advanced students who already knew the moves she was going over. Sometimes her lessons got off track when her students asked her to tell stories about her travels with the Avatar, or unorthodox ways she'd used waterbending, like making clouds into shapes or bending her sweat to cut through wood. It really fed her ego to be appreciated for her skill this way. She thought if they stayed in the North too long, she might become as cocky and braggy as Toph.</p><p>She fell into a routine of spending mornings at the hospital, and afternoons at Pakku's school. After Katara spent a few days shadowing her in the hospital and demonstrating her skills, Yugoda took her into her office for a talk.</p><p>"You are an instinctive healer," the instructor declared. "I've noticed how you seem to start doing the right thing almost automatically. But you're also right to seek more knowledge. Sometimes the most soothing thing you can do for your patients is to give them information about their injury or condition, and if you can't answer their questions, that isn't very comforting."</p><p>"When Princess Azula's lightning shot him down, I brought Aang back from the dead with spirit water." Katara confessed. "I still don't know how I did it, or why it took him so long to wake up."</p><p>Yugoda appeared taken aback at the feat the younger healer had performed. "If he had truly left this world, then his delay in waking was probably far beyond your control. His spirit may have been off fighting somewhere, completing a quest that was necessary to allow it to return to the living, repairing the breach that the lighting had done to his spirit. You had done your part by applying the sacred water to his injury; he had to make his own way back from the spirit world. There was nothing you could have done to hasten that journey; it was out of your hands. I'm sure you did all you could to care for his body while his spirit was traveling. That was really all that was possible for you to do."</p><p>Tears sprung to the girl's eyes. It helped immensely to hear from this knowledgeable healer that she had done all that she could to help her beloved. "Thank you for telling me that. I feel so much better knowing my best was enough. That I didn't prolong his suffering because of my lack of knowledge. I wish you'd been there with me then, to tell me that. It would have really helped me."</p><p>"Sometimes healers take on their patients' pain unconsciously." The master healer said sympathetically. "That's why it's especially difficult to care for our loved ones."</p><p>"Yes, it is." She hadn't had a choice. She'd been the only one available to heal her friends and family during the war. She'd cared for each of them in turn—Aang's mortal wound, her father's laceration, Toph's feet, Sokka's leg, even Zuko's lightning burn. "It wouldn't be so hard if I were more confident in my abilities."</p><p>"Perhaps that is what we can help you with. Building your confidence. And as I just said, your background knowledge of the body, its structures and processes. We can make sure your time here is used well." Yugoda promised.</p><p>____________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Early on one of the only mornings when Zuko didn't have the day booked solid with meetings, he woke to a knock on his door and found Sokka there.</p><p>"I said I'd take you ice-fishing, remember?" He held up his arms, laden with gear. "These Northern fishing holes can't be as good as the ones we have down south, but I guess you won't know the difference."</p><p>Zuko blinked. It took a minute for his sleepy brain to remember his Circle of Praise, when the Water Tribe boy had mentioned fishing as one of a few activities brothers apparently did together in the South, as if they would cement his status in his family. He smiled. "Uh, sure. Let me get dressed."</p><p>After a short ride in a small boat, the two were settled with fishing lines and warm drinks, watching the morning light sparkling on the icebergs. Every once in a while, they saw a whale walrus leaping in the distance, or a family of turtle seals sleeping together on some floating ice. Zuko couldn't believe he hadn't even noticed this beauty when he'd traveled in the North the first time. His all-consuming obsession had blinded him. It was yet another reason to be grateful for his new life and its freedom.</p><p>"So how's Mai?" Sokka asked. "You guys aren't fighting or anything?"</p><p>"No, she just didn't want to travel. And, well, her mom and dad just split up."</p><p>"Oh, that's too bad."</p><p>"Well, it's sad that it came to that, that her dad hasn't come to his senses. And now there's nothing holding him back from feeding his baseless resentments and getting in even deeper with the New Ozai Society. But the good thing about it is that now Mai can see her mom and little brother again. With me leaving town, and Iroh back in the palace to take the reins of the state, she jumped at the chance to spend the time with them."</p><p>"That sounds nice. How big is Tom-Tom now?"</p><p>"Almost as high as my waist. Mai was having the royal armorer make a set of blunt darts for him. She said it's the first step to learning to throw knives like she does."</p><p>"How adorable. A little baby assassin!" They laughed a little, then were quiet for a few minutes. The silence around them was profound, but welcome, calming. Zuko warmed the tea they'd brought and refilled both their flasks.</p><p>"So, uh, I heard about you and Suki. That's rough, buddy."</p><p>"Thanks, I guess."</p><p>"What happened? I thought you two were crazy about each other."</p><p>Sokka sighed. "She said it was because there was stuff she had to do on Kyoshi Island, but that wasn't the whole story. She heard about my first girlfriend, the one who turned into the moon, and she got jealous or something. She got an idea in her head that I preferred Princess Yue. That was her name. Suki thought I had idealized Yue and she'd never measure up. And the really sad thing is, she might have been right."</p><p>"Kind of ironic. You're the most logical, earth-bound guy I know, and you let your relationship fall apart because you're still in love with a spirit."</p><p>"The heart has no logic, my brother."</p><p>"Give yourself a break. From what you're telling me, it seems like Suki might have been unfair to you. I mean, did you do anything to make her think she was a consolation prize to you?"</p><p>"I didn't! She wasn't! Suki was my lifesaver. I never compared her to Yue. I didn't even tell her what happened in the North until she made me. Maybe that was part of the problem. I was keeping a secret. I was holding something back. Not just information, but, you know. Feelings."</p><p>"Hey, if she can forgive me for burning down her village, she can forgive you for having a lingering attachment to your first love."</p><p>"Good point. That gives me hope. But it might be too late. She might have moved on by now."</p><p>"Hmm." Zuko narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Can you remind me, what was the timeline of your relationship?"</p><p>"Well, I met her the first time just a couple days before your burned down her village. And then we saw her again months later on the way to Ba Sing Se. I guess you must have arrived in the city around that time too. And then you and I found her at the Boiling Rock."</p><p>"So she waited for you for months last year, and that was before you even slept together." Zuko summed up the story as he saw it.</p><p>Sokka was kind of taken aback. "When you put it that way, that makes it seem like it's really not over."</p><p>"I take it you haven't moved on yourself?"</p><p>"Nah. Not while I still have a glimmer of hope for Suki. Although, uh, Toph did try to kiss me."</p><p>Zuko raised his eyebrows. "That sounds like it might have been awkward."</p><p>"Surprisingly, not as awkward as you might think. I mean, she's great! If I were her age, I would be thrilled to kiss her. She's cute as hell, and hilarious. We'd have so much fun together."</p><p>"But she's just too young?"</p><p>Sokka nodded, smiling ruefully. "I can't get past it. Even if I'd never met Suki. And of course, since I did meet Suki..."</p><p>"She didn't have a chance."</p><p>"Not really."</p><p>"I'm a little surprised you survived turning Toph down. She's terrifying!"</p><p>"Nah, she was pretty cool about it. We joked about getting together when we're old and widowed."</p><p>"Are you sure about that?" Zuko raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I can imagine her getting more and more cantankerous every year, biting the head off of everybody who tries to approach her."</p><p>"Meh, I could probably tone her down." Sokka waved away his concern. "And it was a joke anyway. I started helping her write letters to a couple of King Bumi's great-grandsons. Ugliest dudes you ever saw, but I guess she doesn't care."</p><p>Zuko chuckled. "I missed this." The words slipped out before he could think to stop them, causing him to flush in embarrassment. He really hadn't spent all that much time with Sokka, but their few days together had been so intense that he felt closer to the young warrior than he ever had to another guy his own age. It was nice to have a friend.</p><p>"Me too." Zuko was relieved to see Sokka's lopsided grin. Apparently saying things like that was ok. "Hey, you have a bite!"</p><p>The Water Tribe boy showed the Fire Lord how to reel in his fish and clean it. They caught three more, and took their catch to Pakku's house, and hung out in the kitchen snacking and chatting while Gran-Gran prepared dinner. Pakku, Aang, Katara, and Toph joined them in their own time, and they all sat down together to eat.</p><p>"In your letter you promised me some stories about these two," Kanna reminded Zuko, her eyes twinkling.</p><p>Zuko smiled. Being welcomed in this house meant a lot to him. "Well, I'm sure Sokka already told you about how we broke his father out of the Boiling Rock prison, but there are probably some parts of the story he left out. Like how he initially wanted to travel there on Appa, without thinking about where he would keep a ten-ton flying bison while we infiltrated a prison inside a volcano."</p><p>"Appa's a smart bison. He could have figured it out," Sokka grumbled.</p><p>"Let's hear your version, from beginning to end," Gran-Gran suggested, and Zuko obliged, focusing on Sokka's foibles and strategizing, while glossing over Suki's role in the story. Then she asked for a story about her granddaughter.</p><p>"Hmm, what can I tell you that you haven't heard yet?" The young Fire Lord wondered aloud. "I guess Katara didn't tell you about the time she threatened my life?"</p><p>"What?" Aang burst out.</p><p>"When I first joined the group to teach Aang firebending, Katara didn't trust me, for good reasons." He repeated her threat, exaggerating his voice and making it into a joke. "She would have done it too. I've never been so frightened by someone I'm not related to!"</p><p>"Ha ha," Katara said sarcastically.</p><p>"You have to admit, it's pretty funny," Sokka said. "Sweet, gentle Katara the healer, threatening the big scary firebender."</p><p>"Have you met your sister?" Toph asked him, incredulous. "She is a lot scarier than Zuko, when she wants to be."</p><p>"She sure is!" Zuko agreed, then turned to Katara, who was scowling. "It's ok. We can laugh about it now, right?"</p><p>"I guess so," she agreed, still a little chagrined at her grandmother and Pakku hearing the story. "But only because you saved my life. Twice."</p><p>"Twice?" Gran Gran asked. "I remember hearing about the...Agni Kai..." she hesitated, unsure if she were saying the foreign word correctly.</p><p>"Yes, he jumped in front of his sister Azula's lightning attack at the Agni Kai battle on the day of the comet, and before that, he pushed me out of the way of a falling pillar at the Western Air Temple. Also caused by Azula." Katara explained.</p><p>"Oh! Well, you can have a double helping of dessert then," Gran-Gran said, as she began to clear the table. Katara and Aang got up to help.</p><p>"And then I want to hear about what these two got up to when they were little." Zuko teased his Water Tribe friends.</p><p>"Well, they quarreled a lot, as you may have guessed. And the older Katara got, the more her waterbending happened unconsciously when she was angry at Sokka. We had to repair the walls of our igloo several times." Gran Gran brought the moon peach pie to the table and started dishing it out. "I think the best thing for them was that war giving them a common enemy. That's how siblings are, fighting bitterly against each other, but united against the world."</p><p>Zuko looked down. For a while, when he had trusted Azula, he had thought that had described them: rivals cooperating for family and country. But it had been just another of her lies, one he now felt foolish for having briefly believed. Katara seemed to have read his mind, because when he looked up, she was looking at him with concern, a sad half smile on her face.</p><p>As they ate dessert, Gran Gran told how Sokka had painted his face and tried to join his father's crew when he left. Hakoda had entrusted him with the defense of the village, she said, since he was the oldest male left, not counting crippled Kajar. Zuko recalled the way Sokka had charged him as he descended the gangplank of his ship. It hadn't been a very skilled attack, but it had been fierce. Then he also remembered the story Sokka had told him about his mother's death, and what he had learned from Yon Rha. The boy may have thought the Fire Nation had come to kill his sister, the last waterbender. His respect for his friend increased exponentially.</p><p>"So that's why you attacked me. When I landed in your village demanding the Avatar. Just one kid, all by himself, running at me and my army of firebenders. You were trying to defend your people singlehandedly." He shook his head in awe at the selfless audacity.</p><p>"I know, it was crazy." Sokka looked sheepish. "And not very effective."</p><p>"Crazy brave, And your boomerang was effective enough!" Zuko rubbed the back of his head, recalling the sharp pain of the blow, and the resulting headache. "Again, I apologize." He looked imploringly at Sokka and Gran Gran.</p><p>"You're here, aren't you?" The older woman pointed out. "This is what peace looks like. Former enemies sharing a meal."</p><p>"Four nations at one table together. It is a new age indeed." Pakku looked around at the young people who had made such a wonder possible. "Your presence here does offer an opportunity for my students that they don't often get. Master Toph, would you like to teach them to defend themselves against earthbenders?"</p><p>"Sounds like fun," Toph smirked. "Does that mean I'd get to go to a place where the ground isn't totally covered with ice?"</p><p>"I suppose that would be necessary," Pakku nodded.</p><p>"You don't think King Keui is going to attack you all? Or that Chief Arnook is planning something….." Aang asked, a little worried. War between the Northern Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom would be a nightmare, and he wanted no part in any kind of preparation for violence.</p><p>"Oh, no, it would be purely a training exercise," the waterbending master assured him.</p><p>"Would you like me to teach them how to fight firebenders?" Zuko offered.</p><p>Everyone was quiet for a moment.</p><p>"It's all right if you think it's inappropriate..." The young monarch backtracked awkwardly.</p><p>"No, it's a wonderful idea," Pakku assured him.</p><p>"Won't that cause you some problems at home?" Katara asked cautiously.</p><p>"There are some people in the Fire Nation who would say it's treason for me to teach anyone from another country anything. To them, Piandao is a traitor for teaching Sokka the sword, and I'm already a traitor for teaching Aang firebending. I wouldn't bother trying to please those people, even if it were possible. Their view of patriotism doesn't allow for any cooperation or friendship between people from other countries, and mine is almost exactly opposite. I'd see it as a great opportunity to strengthen bonds between nations and ensure lasting peace."</p><p>"An admirable intention," Pakku commended him.</p><p>"If I'd thought of this before, I might have brought a different set of people to accompany me here. None of my guards or assistants are benders. Just me. I thought that would make the Northerners more comfortable."</p><p>"I'm sure the chief appreciates that thought, and he'll appreciate your educational efforts even more." Pakku assured him. "One firebender is plenty to teach my class."</p><p>"But you have two," Aang reminded him.</p><p>"Ah, yes, of course. You're invited as well, Aang."</p><p>______________________________________________________________________</p><p>Pakku brought his students away from the frozen city, to a nearby clearing where the ice was thinner than usual. He and Katara pushed aside the snow and ice so that Toph could stand directly on the ground, without snow muffling her 'vision.' It was still too cold for her to go barefoot, but she could still sense a lot more through her boots than she could through the ice.</p><p>Surveying the area, Katara knew they would have to be careful not to turn it into a giant puddle of muck. "When waterbenders and earthbenders fight each other, a lot of times the result is just a bunch of mud," she told the students.</p><p>"When have you fought against earthbenders? I thought the Earth Kingdom was on our side in the war?" One of the students asked suspiciously, as if he were afraid Katara had been fighting for the wrong side.</p><p>"The Dai Li in Ba Sing Se betrayed the Earth Kingdom and joined Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. They're elite earthbenders, some of the toughest opponents I've ever faced." Katara informed them. "But you're right, for the most part earthbenders have been allies to the Tribe."</p><p>"And when waterbenders and earthbenders team up," Toph told them, "they can use their combined bending to cause a landslide or make quicksand. You could also work together to bend mud, or slurry. We did that one time to blow up a Fire Nation drill that was trying to bore into the walls of Ba Sing Se."</p><p>"But today we're talking about how waterbenders can fight earthbenders. Two main topics: projectiles and immobilization." Katara started the lecture. "Earth is usually denser than water, so you need to shoot your water faster, with more force, to counter it. It can also help if you freeze if first, and hold your ice together at impact, so it doesn't just shatter. Hit me, Toph."</p><p>The younger girl smirked and punched a hunk of earth at her friend. Katara's water moved so fast it was almost invisible, stopping it cold. The students were visibly impressed at the speed of the master waterbender's counterattack.</p><p>"If you can't shoot that fast, you'll have to try to aim for one side of the stone to push it off course. Often you'll have more success knocking a rock projectile to the side than you will stopping it dead on. Or you could try to slice it in half. Hit me again."</p><p>Another chunk of soil careened through the air, and Katara cut it cleanly, so that two pieces landed on either side of her feet. The students were suitably impressed. "Try rapid fire."</p><p>Toph threw stone after stone at Katara, and she batted away each one so that they fell away, landing in every direction except that of the seated students.</p><p>"What happens if you throw ice at her?" A student wondered.</p><p>"Try it," Toph dared her friend.</p><p>Katara shot a flurry of ice daggers, which were blocked easily by the wall Toph pulled up.</p><p>"So how do you counter that defense?" Another student questioned in awe.</p><p>"You don't. You either go around it or above it. Toph will know where I go if I try to do that, but most earthbenders lose sight of their enemy when they put up a defensive wall. So you'll be able to surprise them. You can get around a wall faster if you skate." She coated the ground with ice and slid around the wall, squirting Toph in the face when she had a clear shot.</p><p>"I think that concludes the projectile portion of the lesson, unless you have anything to add, Toph?"</p><p>"I'm good," she said, with a flick of her hand that sent a bit of earth to hit Katara right on the butt. "Are we moving on to immobilization?"</p><p>"Yeah." Katara discreetly rubbed her stinging backside as she continued the lecture. "Both earth and ice can immobilize you. An earthbender with frozen legs can still attack you, but if you freeze her when her stance is off, she won't be able to do as much, if anything."</p><p>"How do you know when their stance is off?" One of the students wondered.</p><p>That was kind of hard for Katara to answer. "I guess I just know from seeing Toph and other earthbenders, the way they look when they earthbend well, and when they're not ready. You might not be able to tell without that experience. But I will say that usually earthbenders are crouched or squatted lower to the ground when they're in a good stance. So if you can catch them standing up straight, they might be stuck. Right, Toph?"</p><p>"Pretty much." Toph demonstrated some typical stances. "I learned from the badgermoles themselves, so my stances are a little different from the academy-taught earthbenders. They're more showy and stylized than me." She hit a couple poses, making a face to show that she thought the other earthbenders' moves were effete and affected.</p><p>In a transition between a couple of those moves, Katara caught Toph's legs with ice. "Gotcha." The waterbender quirked a smile. Then she spread the ice up her friend's body so that only her head and hands were free. "If you can freeze her arms as well, you've won." She told the students.</p><p>"Sure about that, sweetness?" Toph flicked a finger, and a pebble bonked Katara in the forehead. A few students laughed at her.</p><p>"Good one, Toph." She rubbed her head. "Your average Earth Kingdom soldier wouldn't be able to do that, though. Toph is, after all, the greatest earthbender of all time." It was the first time she'd used the self-proclaimed title. Toph grinned widely. Katara was glad to make her friend happy, but also felt the urge to undercut her ego. "That's why I need to freeze her hands as well." She stretched the ice to cover her friend's fingers, then immediately melted the ice prison to water, before her bare fingers could get too cold.</p><p>"Now earthbending immobilization. She's going to try to grab my legs with the earth. Skating on ice works well, because it puts a layer of ice between you and the earth. But the best defense is to keep off the ground, keep moving. Be quick and agile." Katara jumped and ran, even performing a roundoff, as Toph chased her footfalls with mounds of land grabbing for her toes. It wasn't until Toph had the idea to get ahead of her, predicting her landing spot and creating a hole just big enough for her foot, that Katara got caught. Once her foot was underground, the rest of her got sucked in, as deep as her shoulders.</p><p>"Gotcha."</p><p>"Yeah, you got me. Now explain to them how you were able to do that."</p><p>"I only see through vibrations in the earth, so I've learned to pay attention to footsteps, strides, and paces. I listened to Katara running around a while, figured out where her next step would fall, and made a hole to trip her."</p><p>"So would sighted earthbenders be able to trap me like this? Or is it one of your personal superpowers?" Katara's pride required that the students understand that it was only because Toph's abilities were so unique that she'd been taken down at all.</p><p>"In theory they could. But they're not likely to bother to learn how. They're usually too distracted by their eyesight to listen to the earth." She pushed her friend back up out of her hole. They'd finished the lecture and demonstrations.</p><p>The waterbenders could easily practice ice immobilizations on their own, and do sprinting and gymnastics drills to improve their agility, but they couldn't practice countering thrown attacks without an earthbender to chuck rocks at them. The students lined up in front of Toph and each got several turns attempting to deflect stone projectiles with water whips and blasts, while Katara and Pakku critiqued or praised their efforts.</p><p>After almost an hour of practice, Pakku concluded the lesson. "We had to leave the city and come here to have this lesson, because that was the only way to allow our earthbending master to show us her skill. That's why the best defense for us is to stay here in the North, where everything is covered with a layer of ice. Deprive the bender of his element and he can't use it against you."</p><p>"Worst place you'd ever want to go, as a waterbender, is the desert." Katara put in, shuddering at the memory. She thought also of the dry prison Hama had described to her, and shuddered again.</p><p>Pakku nodded at her and continued. "In our city of snow, earthbenders would only have whatever stone they bring with them to use as weapons, while you're surrounded by all of the water and ice you could ever want. As long as you're here, or on the sea, you're at a great advantage."</p><p>"Doesn't work with firebenders," one of the students remarked under his breath.</p><p>"That's true." Pakku answered. "Firebenders don't need materials outside of themselves to bend, like waterbenders and earthbenders do. They can create their element from nothing. That's why Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang will be with us tomorrow to teach defense against firebending."</p><p>_________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Zuko stood with Aang in front of Pakku's class the following day in their normal arena. He started by addressing the awkwardness they all felt. "I know it might feel strange to you all to have me here. But please believe me when I say that my goal is to help our countries put our painful history behind us. As I see it, the best way to guarantee good relations between our peoples is to strengthen your defenses. So I want to teach you to fight against firebenders." He took a few paces to the side as he transitioned to his lecture. "Our elements are natural opposites. Water can extinguish fire. Fire can melt ice. The most effective defense any bender can use against a firebender is spraying his fire blasts with water, just as you'd spray water on a burning building. Let's show them." He turned to Aang, who took a ready stance. Zuko punched two fireballs at the Avatar in quick succession, which he countered with identically shaped balls of water, seemingly without much effort. "See how he diffuses the water over the entire area of the fireball." Zuko explained. "A concentrated spray won't stop the blast, but lots of small droplets can cover the whole fire and neutralize it. The water turns to steam, and it can still burn you if you're too close, but your goal is to keep the firebender and his fire at a distance anyway."</p><p>The two staged a mock battle, Aang using only waterbending. Zuko took the offensive, but Aang almost tripped him once with a water whip to the foot. They dodged and parried, enjoying a sparring partner with equal skill. Finally they bowed to each other. "Any questions?"</p><p>"What about ice immobilization?" One of the students asked. "Master Katara and Master Toph showed us that yesterday. Would that work against a firebender?"</p><p>"Yes. That works very well. Master Katara knocked me out and froze me thirty feet up a wall once, and left me there overnight." The students exchanged impressed glances. They hadn't expected to hear the Fire Lord admit he'd been defeated, especially by a girl. "But you can practice that on each other anytime. Same with water whips and other offensive moves you're used to using against other waterbenders. I won't be here in the North long, but I want you all to know how to extinguish a firebending attack before I go. More questions?"</p><p>One of the new female students raised a hand. "Avatar Aang, which is your favorite element to bend?"</p><p>"Air, of course. It's my native element. I was an airbender first, and it's still the element my instincts choose first and most often. It's a very versatile element. There's not much I can't do with it."</p><p>"What's your second favorite?" She pressed, smiling flirtatiously.</p><p>Aang glanced at Zuko. The girl seemed to be a fan. "Well, I'd have to say water, since I'm especially attached to my waterbending teacher. No offense, Zuko." The Fire Lord held up his hands as if to say, none taken. The student seemed unable to decide whether she liked that answer or not.</p><p>If the Q &amp; A had descended into groupie territory, they were ready to move on. Zuko clapped his hands. "Let's practice."</p><p>He had the students split into two groups, one for each firebender, so that they could try the technique individually. Almost all of the students tried to get in Aang's line, but Pakku made half go to Zuko, and then switch when the time was halfway over. They were a little nervous at first, but found the Fire Lord an encouraging coach. It was empowering to have a strategy to fight their traditional enemy, especially for the ones who still had nightmares about the previous year's siege. A couple of the students appeared sullen and resentful of Zuko, and one even knocked him down with an unexpected water blast. Pakku made him sit on the sideline and watch for the rest of the lesson. When Zuko heard that the boy had lost a brother in last year's attack, he personally apologized to the boy.</p><p>He bowed low. "I'm sorry for your loss. And that my presence here is causing you pain. I intend only to strengthen your people's defenses so that nothing like last year's siege will ever happen again. I'll officially sign the peace treaty in just a couple days. You have my word that as long as I'm Fire Lord, your people are safe from mine."</p><p>The waterbender bowed stiffly, not quite as low the bare minimum required by politeness to an equal, much less to a monarch. "I appreciate that. But it doesn't bring my brother back."</p><p>"It doesn't," Zuko agreed. "Again, I'm sorry."</p><p>The boy walked away.</p><p>Zuko knew that he couldn't expect his efforts to be welcomed everywhere, and that there was a limit to how much he could to do to make up for the past. But every time he came up against that limit, it still hurt. He thought that was a good thing, though. It strengthened his determination to make sure he'd never do anything that would require such futile apologies and painful regrets, ever again.</p><p>________________________________________________________________________</p><p>After a long, but mostly uneventful morning in the maternity ward, Katara sat with some of the other novice healers to eat lunch in the hospital cafeteria.</p><p>"So, are you engaged, Master Katara?" One of the girls, a nurse named Sakari, gestured to her necklace, a knowing smile on her lips.</p><p>Katara's hand flew up to her neck. "What, this? Oh, no. It was my mother's. Well, it was my Gran-Gran's first, given to her by Master Pakku. I got it when my mother passed away."</p><p>The other women looked at each other in surprise. She supposed it was unusual in the North for an engagement necklace to pass through a family in this way, to mark anything but a woman's status.</p><p>"Don't you know she's dating the Avatar?" The most experienced healer of the girls, Kachine, nudged her friend. "He's a bit young, but I suppose he'd be worth waiting for."</p><p>Yes, he was, Katara thought to herself, but they had no idea how long she expected to wait.</p><p>"I hope he doesn't keep you in suspense as long as my Hekli kept me," said Sakari, fingering the necklace at her own throat.</p><p>"How long?" Katara asked gamely, glad to lead the group's attention away from herself.</p><p>"Almost two years!" She exclaimed gleefully, thrilled to tell her story. "I was getting so jumpy! Every holiday, every time we were alone together, I was sure it was going to happen. And every time it didn't, I got so sad and discouraged."</p><p>"Why didn't you just propose yourself?" Katara asked sensibly.</p><p>The other women looked at each other and burst into hysterical laughter.</p><p>Sakari explained it to her as if she were a child who didn't understand adult relationships. "My Hekli is so shy. He's a go-with-the-flow kind of person. Very non-confrontational. If I'd proposed to him, he would have said yes just so it wouldn't start a fight, even if he didn't want to marry me at all! The only way I could ever know Hekli really wanted it, that he wasn't just going along with what I wanted to please me, or only to avoid a fight, was by waiting for him to be the one to ask."</p><p>That…..actually made a lot of sense, Katara had to admit to herself. She couldn't help seeing Aang in Sakari's description of her fiance. He hated arguments and would do almost anything to avoid one, especially with her, perhaps up to and including participating in an unwanted wedding. She certainly didn't want him to marry her just because she'd browbeat him into it. No, she decided, she could only do it if he came up with it himself, wanted it badly enough himself to ask for it, and knowing his background, that would never happen. It must be nice to be pursued like that, she imagined wistfully. But, no, that wasn't fair. Aang had pursued her. He had kissed her first, and made his feelings clear to her before he'd known they were returned, and kept showing her in his gentle way that he cared for her and wanted to be with her, even after she'd put him off. She should think about that. That was all that it was proper for her to think about anyway. She should appreciate what they had. She shook herself and brought her attention back to the conversation.</p><p>"So how did you get him to finally ask?" Kachine asked Sakari.</p><p>"I got very busy." She winked. "For some mysterious reason, I just wasn't available as often. And then I took a trip to visit some cousins in Arviat Village. Instead of hanging all over him every day, like I'd done for the previous two years, I gave him a chance to miss me. To realize how much he needed me around. When I came back from my trip, Hekli was finally ready to make things official."</p><p>"Wasn't that just punishing yourself?" Katara asked. She hated the idea of staying away from Aang for any reason, much less to try to get him to propose. She would miss him too much, and besides, it sounded so manipulative.</p><p>"It wasn't easy, but neither was being taken for granted." Sakari justified herself, a little huffy.</p><p>"Oh. That's certainly understandable." Katara allowed. That explained why distancing herself from her boyfriend had been the right choice for Sakari, but would be the wrong choice for Katara. Aang didn't take her for granted at all. If she tried to do what Sakari had done, it would be like sending them back to the time in their relationship where he pined after her and she was unsure about her feelings. It wouldn't solve any of their problems and would only make Aang's insecurity worse. It would hurt him. No, her instincts told her that purposely making herself unavailable to Aang was just a recipe for heartache for both of them. What was keeping her awake at night were questions about whether their cultural differences could be reconciled, whether they had any mutual understanding of the meaning of relationships and intimacy, and whether their desires for their futures were compatible. Teaching him a lesson on appreciating her (one he didn't need) would do nothing to answer those questions.</p><p>Kachine called Katara back to the conversation. "So are you thinking of using the Sakari plan on the Avatar?" She smiled suggestively at her. "Taking a strategic vacation so that you can come back to an engagement necklace?"</p><p>"Oh. No." She shook her head emphatically. She didn't want to disparage the other girl's relationship by comparing hers, so she just stuck to the easiest explanation. "Like you said, he's too young anyway. We're both too young. We're happy with things as they are now." She assured them, and herself.</p><p>____________________________________________________________________</p><p>When Aang came out of the council building, he saw that Katara was waiting for him.</p><p>"I wondered if you had some time before dinner," she said shyly, "I feel like we haven't had any time to ourselves, and we can't really be alone at Pakku's house..."</p><p>He fell into step beside her on the walk by the canal. "That sounds great. Did you have anything in particular in mind?"</p><p>"A ride on Appa? He probably needs some exercise."</p><p>"Perfect." He appreciated how she thought of his bison, cared for and made time for him. Appa was much more than a pet, and not everyone understood that, but she did. He was also grateful for the way she sought him out, and made sure they got to spend time together, even though they were both keeping very busy, between her lessons and hospital shifts and time with her grandmother, and his endless meetings. It was one of the things she did that gave him hope that her feelings for him might be growing, that Sokka was wrong and she might want to spend her future with him after all. It felt a little silly to hold her hand when she was wearing mittens, but he did anyway.</p><p>They found Appa in the stable where he'd been sleeping, and the bison seemed thrilled to see his favorite human, as always. After attaching his saddle and calling "Yip yip," the couple floated above the frozen city. They settled into their usual cuddle position, backs against the saddle's lip, his arm around her, the leg closest to her stretched out, her knees pulled in and leaning toward him. She pulled off her mittens and put her hands on his chest under his cloak. He was always so warm.</p><p>"The meetings are going well?" Katara asked. She always felt the need to talk a little first, to reconnect and touch base, to keep up a bit of a pretense. Though they didn't acknowledge it aloud, they both knew the real purpose of little flights like this.</p><p>"I think so." Aang answered. "It's only details they're quibbling about, really, at this point. Things like what the exchange program should be called, and how much the participants' stipends should be."</p><p>"Zuko's doing a good job, isn't he?"</p><p>"Yeah, he's turning out to be a good Fire Lord so far. He knows what he's talking about in the meetings and the old guys actually listen to him."</p><p>"Do they listen to you too?"</p><p>"Yeah, but I haven't had to say much." Aang admitted modestly. "And when I do speak up or have to answer a question, often I don't really know what I'm talking about, because I haven't done my homework, but Zuko has. He understands this stuff better than me."</p><p>"Did it bother you, hearing that I threatened him?" Katara asked. She felt a little worried that the revelation may have changed her boyfriend's opinion of her.</p><p>"Well, I'm certainly glad you didn't follow through…." Aang began warily.</p><p>"I'm more glad he never gave me a reason to." She couldn't feel remorse for being willing to kill to protect him, for intimidating someone who had terrorized her. As much as she cared about Zuko now, she wouldn't take that moment back or change it. As she saw it, her promise of merciless retribution had been a necessary part of his initiation to their team, a demon he had to face in order to prove his sincerity and earn his place.</p><p>Aang raised one eyebrow at her. "I guess it's nice that you wanted to protect me. You know I feel protective of you, too. I guess the difference is that I don't make threats, I just go into the Avatar state if anyone ever tries to hurt you. I don't know if that's better or worse. We might...feel differently about violence, but that's probably ok. I'm hoping since the war is over we won't be faced with any situation where that matters."</p><p>"Me too." The world was at peace and she was with her Aang. He made her feel so safe. Reassured, she scooted even closer and brought her face next to his. The conversational preliminaries completed, they began what they'd come to the sky for—kissing.</p><p>Aang saw this little excursion as a bit of a research opportunity. As a part of his efforts to be the best boyfriend ever, he was working to become a better kisser. He had started making a more conscious, systematic study of kissing technique, hoping to improve his skills from good to excellent. He was paying attention to which moves and touches seemed to get the biggest reactions from Katara, and trying to remember and repeat the best ones. He thought if he really made her enjoy his kisses, if he made her shiver with pleasure, then she'd be sure to fall in love with him.</p><p>He tried a few different things. Did she like it better when he sucked gently on her top lip, or bottom lip? Did she prefer his arm around her shoulders or waist? When she made that little sigh, was that because of what he was doing with his hand or his mouth? He'd been kissing her a while, focusing on her minute reactions, when she pulled away unexpectedly.</p><p>"Am I doing something wrong?" She questioned, the skin between her eyebrows pinched.</p><p>"What? No! This is great!" He insisted, afraid his experiment had been ruined, or, worse, that his experiment had somehow ruined them.</p><p>"You're not making any sounds like you sometimes do." She was almost pouting, and there was a slight edge of impatience, or even frustration in her voice. "Your breathing is all regular, not shaky or hitched or anything. Like you're not into it, not caught up the way you usually are."</p><p>He felt sheepish, realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry. I guess I was concentrating on getting you to make sounds. I was too busy trying to make you feel good."</p><p>She giggled. "But my favorite thing is when I make you feel good."</p><p>He blinked and a slow grin made its way across his face. How did he get so lucky? He leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers. "Same here. But if you insist, you can have your turn doing your favorite thing first." He gave himself over to her ministrations, and made sure that she knew exactly how much he enjoyed them.</p><p>When it was his turn, he decided to bring her in to his little project. "Do you like this?" He murmured between kisses. "Is that the right spot?" The questions themselves seemed to excite her, and her answers (almost all nonverbal) helped his skills reach a new level much more quickly. But, apparently, it wasn't his skill or his understanding of her preferences, but his ability to lose himself in her kisses, his willingness to show her how delicious he found her every touch, that she appreciated most. When he relaxed and did what came naturally, he found he could make her very happy indeed.</p><p>_________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>The party that Chief Arnook threw to celebrate the new treaty was much larger than the welcome party. Pakku's students, Yugoda's healers, Zuko's attendants, and everyone important in the city were all in attendance. Katara found herself standing off to one side of the party with Zuko, observing the crowd.</p><p>"So the diplomatic mission has been a success?" She asked him.</p><p>"Entirely." He grinned. "Treaty signed, ambassadors approved, building sites for embassies chosen, exchange program founded. Of course there are going to be some who will consider these successes as failures because we haven't conquered anyone. Either way, I'm not going to make policy decisions based on trying to please those kinds of extremists. But maybe after the increased trade leads to more prosperity, after Water Tribe healers start saving Fire Nation lives, maybe they'll come around."</p><p>"I'm happy for you. And for the Fire Nation, and the Water Tribe, and the world." She felt proud of him, too, but it seemed awkward to say that, as if she were taking some credit for what he'd accomplished.</p><p>"The council refused help rebuilding the areas that got damaged in the siege, saying they don't hold me responsible because they know I didn't personally have any part in the attack on the city, which is only true on a technicality. Obviously I didn't push it because it seemed a point of pride for them. To be honest, saving the money will help me do more reparations projects in other places that need it more."</p><p>"That sounds great, Zuko." A bright head of hair caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, no."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Look at that girl approaching Sokka." She pointed discreetly across the room. "That's Eskina. She's the chief's niece. She tried to get his attention at the welcome party, but it didn't work, so it looks like she dyed her hair!"</p><p>"It doesn't look very natural."</p><p>"It's not! It's kind of pathetic. She's trying to look more like Princess Yue."</p><p>"Princess Yue's hair looked like that?"</p><p>"No, not at all. Hers was pale white, an effect of the moon spirit saving her life when she was a baby. I don' t think artificial dyes can create that color, especially not in people with hair like ours. That's why Eskina's hair looks more yellow and kind of fried."</p><p>"It's not a good look."</p><p>"No. It looks like it did get Sokka's attention, but not necessarily in a good way." They watched as Sokka did a double take, then turned away pointedly, speaking to the general seated on his other side.</p><p>"Good for him," Zuko nodded approvingly. "She seems desperate."</p><p>"She just turned 18 and still doesn't have a betrothal necklace," Katara shared the gossip in a stage whisper.</p><p>"Is that unusual?" Zuko asked.</p><p>"In the North, for a girl closely related to the chief, yes."</p><p>"Is the South different?"</p><p>"Things are less formal in the South. And a little more egalitarian."</p><p>"You like it better that way, I guess?"</p><p>"Of course! I would hate to be forced into an engagement by my parents at sixteen, like Princess Yue was! That's only a few months away! Weeks, really."</p><p>"Sokka and Yue were engaged?" Zuko was confused. Surely if they'd been engaged, Sokka would have said so…..</p><p>"No, her parents had fixed her up with this other guy. And then she and Sokka met and fell in love. It was very dramatic."</p><p>"I bet it was. So…..what happened to the other guy?"</p><p>"I heard he had a falling out with the chief after Yue passed away. Apparently, when he heard what she had done, his reaction was kind of callous. Insensitive, at least. He was more upset about losing his chance to marry into the chief's family than about what happened to Yue herself. He got kicked out of the army and blackballed from most decent jobs in the capital."</p><p>Zuko made an appreciative face. "That surprises me a little about Chief Arnook. He hasn't been vengeful at all concerning my country's attack on his, but I guess family matters are different. He is not a guy to cross. I'll remember that." Hearing the details of his friend's star-crossed love story made him curious for more. "So, uh, what did you think about Sokka dating a girl who was engaged?"</p><p>"I liked Yue. She was sweet. But I couldn't see where Sokka thought it was going with her." Katara shook her head in confusion. "We weren't planning to stay in the North for long, and she couldn't come with us. When I heard she was engaged, I lost some respect for her, I have to admit. I thought she was stringing my brother along, and that she was a coward for not standing up to her parents and ending the engagement, since she obviously didn't want it. But in the end, I felt bad for thinking that way, because she certainly did not lack courage."</p><p>"I don't have a high opinion of arranged marriages either. My parents' marriage was arranged, and it certainly didn't work. But then, Mai's parents' wasn't, and it didn't work either."</p><p>"They broke up?"</p><p>He nodded.</p><p>"How's she doing?"</p><p>"She's taking it better than she did when her dad joined the New Ozai Society and told her she had to break up with me."</p><p>"Sounds like Mai has courage too."</p><p>"Of course she does. She stood up to my sister, and her dad is a cream puff compared to Azula."</p><p>"Is she still in that asylum?" Katara asked gently.</p><p>"Yes. I visited weekly for a while, but eventually cut back my visits because they never got any better. She's just….mean." He put it mildly. They both recalled her vulgar insults as they took her away in chains. "The good days are when she simply ignores me. Then I can just talk and pretend she's listening. Mai goes more often than I do. She feels some responsibility for Azula's breakdown, although I tell her she shouldn't."</p><p>"You don't visit your father, do you?" The idea gave Katara a chill, thinking of what Aang had said he'd seen in Ozai's soul when he'd taken his bending away.</p><p>"No. I told him everything I needed to on the day of black sun, and considered our relationship over from that day. I have no desire to see him. And Aang told me not to. He also gave strict instructions for his guards to be changed regularly, so that he wouldn't have a chance to manipulate them."</p><p>"That's good. I'm sure it's best for you to stay away from him. But I hope Azula gets better someday, for your sake." Katara said carefully, trying to be generous and supportive, and also true to her own feelings. "Although I don't think I ever want to see her again, unless she's so reformed she actually apologizes for killing Aang. And I have a hard time imagining that."</p><p>"I do too. It's natural that you should feel that way. There's no reason you should ever have to see her if you don't want to." He assured her.</p><p>"Now I find it hard to believe you two are even related sometimes." Now that she knew Zuko better, she could sense a warmth in him that was completely absent from his sister.</p><p>"I'll take that as a compliment, I guess."</p><p>"Good. That's how I meant it." She looked away from his smile, gazing around the party. It was wonderful to see her friends as honored guests at such a fancy, prestigious, joyful gathering. There was Toph, filling her plate and chatting with some of the waterbending students they'd trained. Aang sitting comfortably with Pakku and some council members, fitting right in with the wise old men. And the chief's niece staring at her brother's back. Uh oh. "Want to go rescue Sokka before Eskina decides to try again?" She proposed.</p><p>"It's clearly our duty to avert an international incident." Zuko agreed.</p><p>________________________________________________________________________</p><p>On the night of the full moon, there was a memorial service planned for the anniversary of Yue's passing. Katara's training session with the new women waterbenders ended early, so she headed to the spirit oasis, hoping for a peaceful moment alone in the sacred place. She was surprised to find Zuko there, and guessed he was also there to attend the service.</p><p>"Oh, I, uh, didn't know you were coming." She greeted him awkwardly.</p><p>"Yes. I wasn't sure if it was the best idea, but Chief Arnook insisted. He said something about making it public that he didn't blame the Fire Nation, or me, for...what happened to his daughter. He's really been wonderful. Not just with the peace talks and the embassy negotiations, but...personally. He's been welcoming. And kind. I think it helped that Pakku and Uncle are friends, and he spoke to the chief for me. And maybe our training sessions as well." Zuko realized he was rambling nervously. He took a deep breath and admitted, "Still, it feels strange...to be here again...with you."</p><p>"Yes, it does." She agreed. They looked around at the site of their battle. The wall she'd frozen him to. The spot where she'd fallen. "I don't blame you for what happened to Yue either. You and Zhao were barely on the same side."</p><p>"He felt more like an enemy to me than Aang ever did." Zuko reflected. "Especially here. He was so defenseless, in his spirit trance. It felt unfair, dragging him away like that. It was the closest I ever came to capturing him. Which might have made it the worst thing I ever did."</p><p>She could see that Zuko was feeling regretful. That made her want to cheer him up with a joke. But at the same time, the vivid, visceral memory of their fight, and the image of Zuko dragging Aang away, stirred some anger she'd thought she'd let go of. She remembered how bereft and guilty she had felt, coming to with a headache and her best friend, whom she'd failed to protect, gone. Those warring impulses found expression in a petty joke with an edge of justified meanness, delivered in a bright tone that was intended to soften the blow, but had the opposite effect. "Hm, what was the worst thing you ever did? I guess there are quite a number of offenses to consider. What about the time you tied me to a tree?"</p><p>The blood fell out of Zuko's face, whitening it. He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.</p><p>"You were kind of creepy about it." She reminded him, arms crossed in front of her. "Taunting me with my mother's necklace."</p><p>"I know. Sorry." Zuko cringed with embarrassment at the image. "Aang was right when he said I was playing a part. Sometimes during those months, when my conscience bothered me, I would pretend to be someone else, to kind of dissociate myself from what I was doing. That time I was being the Dark Water Spirit, the villain from Love Amongst the Dragons. There's a scene where he kidnaps Noren's girlfriend and questions her, then uses her as bait."</p><p>She didn't know if that made it better or worse. In this particular case, it sounded almost kinky. "Did you tell Mai about that?" She wondered, her voice skeptical.</p><p>"She saw the play." The Boy in the Iceberg, he meant.</p><p>"Oh yeah." She recalled. "That was why she thought you and I might have...had a thing, and so she asked me about our history."</p><p>"Sorry about that." He wouldn't look at her. "She grilled me particularly hard about...the bondage scene, as she called it."</p><p>Katara sighed and rolled her shoulders, putting it behind her for good. He seemed plenty humiliated now; maybe that was penance enough. "Well, I guess I can laugh about it now, if you can. Besides, your uncle was right. It was my own fault that you caught me. It was not my finest hour either." She burned with shame, recalling how she'd snapped at Aang, jealous of his quick progress learning her element, and the way her drive to master it had led to her capture, and her friend's as well.</p><p>"No, that's ridiculous. You didn't tie yourself up." He couldn't let her carry any guilt for his misdeed.</p><p>"That's true. But still, I remember I was even more mad at myself than I was at you. I think back then I saw you as this impersonal malevolent force that was trying to take Aang away from me."</p><p>"Well, when you act like an opera villain, you can't expect anyone to see you as a person." Zuko shrugged. "Except for Aang, I guess."</p><p>"He's amazing that way." Just the mention of her boyfriend made her light up inside, the firebender noticed. It was charming. "You know he insisted we save you from the blizzard? Sokka would have left you behind."</p><p>"I would have frozen to death, with only myself to blame. Uncle was so mad at me for not thinking ahead, for not having a plan to escape. The whole thing was a terrible idea from the beginning. And if I hadn't taken Aang away from this place, if he had been here to protect the sacred fish-" It was only now, with hindsight informed by hearing the story from multiple perspectives, that he understood how much his determination to earn his father's love had cost others.</p><p>"It's useless to think like that. It was meant to be. I know Aang would say that. He says that about a lot of things."</p><p>Zuko shook his head decidedly. "What Zhao did could never have been intended or fated by any benign spirit. It was an abomination."</p><p>"It was." She agreed solemnly. They were quiet a moment, remembering the sick red light of the moonless sky, the unnatural way color had drained from the world. Finally, Katara wondered, "Whatever happened to him? And to you? We forgot about you, tied up in Appa's saddle, and then you were gone."</p><p>"I went after Zhao." The firebender's voice darkened with remembered hostility. "Chased him through the streets and canals. We fought. I was winning. Then the water rose up and grabbed him and dragged him under. I never saw anything like it."</p><p>She was impressed. "I don't know whether he deserved that or not, and I guess it doesn't matter. But the world is better off without him in it."</p><p>"Agreed." Zuko shifted uncomfortably. "When I joined the group, we talked about how my betrayal at Ba Sing Se made it hard for you to trust me. But we kind of passed over my earlier sins. I don't think I ever apologized to you for what I did here, or with the pirates..."</p><p>Suddenly Katara felt bad for giving him a hard time. "Not specifically. You didn't present an itemized list. But I knew your apology was all-encompassing. I mean, I know that now." She assured him, taking his gloved hand in her mittened one and giving it an unexpected squeeze. "And that's how my forgiveness was too. Wholehearted."</p><p>She could see his shoulders relax, his burden lifted, and dropped his hand. Behind him, she noticed some people coming into the oasis. She recognized the chief and his wife, Pakku, Aang, and Sokka. She moved to join them and Zuko followed her.</p><p>The crowd was small; Zuko was probably the only one there who hadn't been close to Yue. They formed a circle around the calm waters where the fish swam eternally, connecting over the two small bridges. The chief and his wife spoke about their daughter's short life, which had begun and ended in this same blessed place, about the joy she had given them, and their pride in her sacrifice. A shaman led them in a chanted prayer. Katara and Sokka spoke the words, hesitating only a little when there were slight variations in the version of the prayer they had learned as children. Aang and Zuko kept a respectful silence. Then everyone listened to a musician play a favorite song of Yue's on a harp. The short service ended with everyone gazing at the full moon in silence.</p><p>"So, if I want to talk to Yue, what do I do?" Sokka turned to Aang as the small crowd dispersed.</p><p>"Well, you're already in the right place, and the moon is full," Aang reminded him. "That should make it easier. All you have to do is just sit there and quiet your mind and think of her and start talking to her."</p><p>"You make it sound so easy. But I've never been the kind of guy who can, like, pray and meditate. My head just won't stop thinking about random stuff."</p><p>"The monks called that monkey brain. I used to get that too. Emptying your mind is hard, an acquired skill." Aang sympathized. "But maybe you don't have to do that. Fill your mind instead. Fill it up with Yue, everything you can remember about her, and focus on her. That might kind of call her here."</p><p>Listening, Katara got a little worried. She hoped her brother's spiritual failings wouldn't keep him from accomplishing the goal of this trip, as she saw it: allowing him to move on and resume his relationship with Suki. She added, "And even if she doesn't appear, you know, the way she did when she passed away, you can still tell her whatever you need to and trust that she heard. This is her holy place, she's always here."</p><p>"Right," Sokka said doubtfully. His sister gave him a hug, and his friends left him alone in the warm, peaceful clearing.</p><p>He walked slowly over the wooden bridge to the spot in front of the pool where the two fish swam in their eternal circle. The spot where he'd last held Yue, where he'd cradled her lifeless body until she dissolved into spirit. He took his parka off and sat on it, his knees in front of him. He tried to picture Yue clearly in his mind, to remember what she looked like, how her voice sounded. He kept his eyes closed as he spoke.</p><p>"Yue, are you here? It's me, Sokka. I came to see you. I-I'd really like to talk to you."</p><p>"Sokka. It is good to have you here in my oasis."</p><p>He opened his eyes and there she was. The spirit's beauty was as dazzling as he knew it would be, but it didn't have the effect on him that he'd feared. He wasn't struck dumb or beguiled; instead he saw how otherworldly she was, how different and alien. He swallowed, determined to say what he'd planned to say.</p><p>"Yue, I came to talk to you because I need to break up with you. You told me that you would always be with me, and that made me feel like I was being unfaithful to you or to your memory when I fell in love with someone else. There's another girl I want to be with, and she shouldn't have to share me. I want to cut all ties with you so that I can be totally hers, if she'll still have me."</p><p>The spirit's head tilted to one side, a human gesture that was disturbingly incongruous when performed by a floating, ethereal being. "Sokka, when I told you that I would always be with you, I meant only to comfort and console you, for I knew you would mourn me, and I see you have. Now I am one with all life, in a way that is both more intimate and more impersonal than any human connection. This was the kind of continuing relationship I offered you. I am always with you in the same way that I am always with every other man, and every woman, child, animal, and spirit. I am thankful that because of you I had a small taste of human love, but that love died with my human body. For you to persist in an attachment to me that interferes with your love for a human woman is foolish."</p><p>"Yes, I see that now." He might have been embarrassed at how he'd misunderstood her words, giving himself undue importance, but his relief was so great it overpowered any chagrin he might have felt. "I feel dumb that I needed to hear you say that, but I did. I guess I didn't understand how this spirit thing worked. I'm not a very spiritual guy."</p><p>"You are the same rational, loyal boy I fell in love with when I was a girl. That girl would have been touched by your devotion, but she is gone. The moon has no need of such exclusive attachment. I will always be in the sky watching over you, but this is the last time I will appear to you in this way. Even if you seek me here, in my most sacred oasis, I will not speak to you again."</p><p>"Yes, I think that would be best. Talking to you like this is wonderful, and I'm very grateful you came because I really needed this little chat, but I also need it to be our last." He took a deep breath. "Thank you, Yue. Thank you for loving me, and for giving your life to save the moon and the tribe. Thank you for helping me get over you so I can love again."</p><p>"Thank you, Sokka, for your love. Thank you for making me laugh and taking me flying and kissing me. My human life was complete because of you. I wish you happiness with the woman you love. Goodbye."</p><p>"Goodbye."</p><p>She didn't lean down to kiss him this time, but when he reached his hands out in farewell, he felt...something on them. Some touch, or pressure, or presence. As if she had held and squeezed his fingers in hers for just an instant. Then she faded, until there was only the moon, far away, shining down on him with the same disinterested benevolence as always.</p><p>______________________________________________________________</p><p>The next day, as they packed Appa's saddle, Katara asked her brother how he was feeling.</p><p>He smiled broadly and spread his arms wide. "I'm free."</p><p>She hugged him, relieved. She didn't think she'd seen Sokka so buoyant since Kyoshi Island.</p><p>"Let's get going!" Toph grumbled. "The sooner we're away from this frozen wasteland the better!"</p><p>"Katara, may I have a word?" Master Pakku pulled her aside. He held up a crystal phial on a ribbon.</p><p>"More spirit water?" She asked, dismayed. "But the war is over..."</p><p>"You travel with the Avatar. Your dangers may never be completely over. And there are still old wounds that fester. I trust you will know where healing is needed most."</p><p>She nodded solemnly, hanging the phial around her neck. She prayed she would never need to use it. But its presence next to her heart felt like a curse, guaranteeing that she would.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please leave me a review if you're enjoying the story! Hit Follow to get email updates. My goal is to keep up with weekly updates on Fridays.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. The Cave of the Two Lovers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The group had been split on whether to return to the Cave of the Two Lovers. On the one hand, Aang pointed out that they had left the place a mess, its entrance blocked by a landslide. He felt obligated to restore it to the way it had been before the Fire Nation had tried to trap them inside. It was a tomb and a historic landmark, after all. But Sokka pointed out that the badgermoles could easily have cleared the opening if they wanted to, and besides, he had not enjoyed their first visit very much. When Toph heard that there were badgermoles in the cave, she decided the group.</p><p>"They are only the sweetest, coolest, strongest, most fun bending animals in the world!" Toph enthused. "No offense, Appa. And they're rare and reclusive. If we know where some of them are, we have got to go hang out with them!"</p><p>"Toph didn't get a chance to pick a vacation spot, remember?" Katara pointed out. "I picked the Misty Palms Oasis, Sokka picked the library, then Appa got stolen and there were no more vacations."</p><p>"Well, since we're not going back to either of those places, I guess we have space for it in the schedule," Sokka conceded. "But I reserve the right to complain the entire time!"</p><p>Appa landed outside the cave entrance, which was still blocked by rubble. Aang and Toph got to work clearing the rocks.</p><p>"I wonder what Chong and the others are up to now," Aang mused as he lifted stones and fitted them back into the cave's walls.</p><p>"Oh, probably just spreading cheer." Sokka answered sarcastically. "Picking flowers, singing songs. Getting other travelers stuck in crazy situations and driving them nuts with their idiocy."</p><p>Almost as soon as the entrance was open, two badgermoles nosed out. Toph squealed in delight, running up to the huge animals. They sniffed her and seemed to recognize her as one of their own. Soon she was disappearing into the cave with them. "Meet you back here later!" She yelled behind her at her friends.</p><p>"Great. Who knows what she means by later? Tonight? Tomorrow? Next month?" Sokka groused.</p><p>"I guess we'll find out." Aang shrugged, unconcerned. "We don't need to go all the way through the tunnel to the other side of the mountain. Let's just make sure the way to the tomb is clear. When Appa caused that tunnel collapse, it blocked the path. Visitors who want to pay their respects to Oma and Shu should be able to get through. We'll be back soon, Appa," he reassured his bison, patting its nose. "You don't have to go in the cave this time, buddy. You can just rest and wait here."</p><p>"Well there's one thing that makes this visit a lot easier and less scary than the first time." Sokka remarked as they prepared to enter.</p><p>"What's that?"</p><p>"Aang can firebend now. We don't have to worry about the torch going out."</p><p>"Right." With a glance at Katara, he conjured a flame floating above his palm.</p><p>As they walked, Sokka sang softly, "Secret tunnel, secret tunnel..."</p><p>"Do you have to keep singing the song, Sokka?" Katara asked, annoyed.</p><p>"I had to listen to that guy sing that song for hours, over and over, until my ears were bleeding. I'm going to make sure you two wake up months from now with a little tune in your head, just like I did."</p><p>He continued singing, going through the whole song three times before Aang tugged on his arm to shush him. The airbender pointed to the ceiling, where several wolf-bats hung upside down, asleep. They tiptoed by the animals, barely breathing.</p><p>After they turned two more corners in the cave, the danger seemed to have passed, and Sokka felt safe enough to sing the song some more. But before he got halfway through the chorus, he stopped himself abruptly, moaning, "Who am I kidding? All this singing about the secret tunnel is just making me miss Suki even more."</p><p>Katara cringed.</p><p>Aang looked at her quizzically. "What?" He asked.</p><p>"Don't think about it too hard." She cautioned her naïve boyfriend.</p><p>"Oh, look. There's the tomb entrance." Aang saw the carved words that marked the resting place of Oma and Shu. They spent a few minutes marveling at the carvings and paying their respects.</p><p>After they left the tomb, they tried to follow the same passages they'd used to arrive there, making turns in the opposite direction.</p><p>"There aren't any more blocked passages," Sokka remarked. "Not even any rubble. I told you the badgermoles would clear it. We didn't need to come in here."</p><p>"The entrance was covered with rocks." Katara reminded him. "We had no way of knowing what we'd find in here."</p><p>"Maybe the badgermoles didn't know the war is over, and they don't need to seal themselves off from Fire Nation attacks anymore." Aang wondered.</p><p>"Or maybe they don't want people in their cave." Sokka speculated darkly.</p><p>"Well, they can always block the entrance again if they want to, after we leave." Aang pointed out blithely.</p><p>"You're not scared, are you?" Katara nudged her brother playfully. "I'm sure Toph won't let her new pets trap us in here."</p><p>The stone hallways all looked the same. After a while they had to admit it was taking much longer to reach the entrance than it should have Finally they came to a fork in the tunnel that they didn't remember, and couldn't agree on which path to take.</p><p>"I thought we'd be set because we now have unlimited light, a torch that won't go out. But just because we can see around us doesn't mean we know which way to go." Sokka admitted defeat.</p><p>"I guess there's one way to find out." Katara looked at Aang with a sly smile, which he returned.</p><p>"Uh, Sokka, I need to put out my fire."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Just for a minute. Then we'll know which tunnel leads back to the entrance."</p><p>"How will that help?"</p><p>"You'll see." The airbender promised his friend.</p><p>The flame hovering over his palm disappeared, and the darkness was complete.</p><p>Aang and Katara were already holding hands, so they didn't need to grope for each other in the dark. As if with a sixth sense, they knew exactly where the other would be. They turned to each other, lining their bodies up completely and holding each other close before aiming their lips together in a kiss that was more practiced than that first one, full of shared understanding instead of nervous, hopeful questions. Behind their closed eyes they could sense the immediate change in the cave around them, and looked straight up.</p><p>"It's even brighter than before," Katara whispered in wonder.</p><p>"Yeah, and more colorful. The lights have different dimensions now, and they're kind of luminous." Aang marveled at the beauty above and around him. The crystals, though, were outshone by the girl in his arms.</p><p>"Sparkling," Katara murmured. The lights reflected in his eyes dazzled her.</p><p>"Did you guys just make that happen?" Sokka pointed at the ceiling, breaking the spell.</p><p>"The inscription on the tomb reads, love is brightest in the dark." Katara reminded him, dropping her arms from around her boyfriend, but keeping one of his hands in hers, their fingers interlaced.</p><p>"Just like the legend says, we let love lead the way." Aang said, gazing at his girlfriend, who blushed and looked down.</p><p>Sokka recognized the words from Aang's explanation of how he and Katara had gotten out of the cave before, and he put it together. "Wait. You two kissed way back the first time we were in this cave? And you still had all of that drama? Why wasn't it settled right then? A magic cave tells you you're in love, and you wait months to officially start dating?"</p><p>Aang reddened, unsure how to react to that question, and afraid of what Katara might say. He was worried she'd deny or downplay what they had just felt in that kiss, and what Sokka had just said. He found that the idea that the cave's lights had confirmed their love meant a lot to him. It would hurt if she didn't see it the same way.</p><p>Instead, Katara snickered and nudged Aang's side with the elbow of the hand he held. "Why don't you ask Mr. "I'd rather kiss you than die" over here?" Was she implying that that if he had been more honest about his feelings at the time, it would have made a difference for her? Did she mean that even then, she had liked him, had wanted that first fumbling kiss, and the only reason they hadn't begun a relationship so long ago had been his immaturity? Even though it meant he had only himself to blame for the heartache he'd suffered before that kiss at the tea shop, he found he liked that idea a lot.</p><p>Sokka looked at the younger boy, laughing in surprise. "You said that to her? I knew you weren't smooth, but that is next-level awkward."</p><p>Aang shrugged, nonplussed. She didn't deny it, and that was all he cared about. "Obviously I wasn't ready." He replied, relaxing.</p><p>Katara tilted her head to the side, surprised. "Really? You weren't ready?"</p><p>"If I couldn't admit out loud that I wanted to kiss you without using the cave as an excuse, then I didn't deserve to. I don't mind, especially now. It all turned out the way it was supposed to. I eventually learned how to trust in love." The fact that he was quoting the cave's legend made it easier to say the word, and even to look at her while he did. He thought he noticed her breathing change when she heard it, as if it were almost as meaningful to her as it was to him.</p><p>"Ugh, you guys act like it's so simple." Sokka grumbled, interrupting their moment. "I hate vague platitudes like that, and I especially hate it when a vague platitude is backed up by magical mumbo jumbo. What does that even mean, trust in love?"</p><p>Katara and Aang exchanged another glance, communicating this time about their companion instead of their own feelings. They knew this outburst was more about Sokka's frustration with his own romantic predicament than with them. Aang decided to give his friend back his own good advice. "Maybe it means keeping faith while you wait. Holding on to hope that when the time is right, you'll be with the one you love."</p><p>Katara's heart skipped a beat when he said that, it sounded so similar to their story. Was he speaking from experience, or just trying to support his friend?</p><p>"So it doesn't mean go grab Suki, bring her here, and kiss her?" Sokka asked despondently. "Let the cave prove to her that I'm finally over Yue?"</p><p>"I guess you could bring her here if she wanted to come," Katara said carefully, "but if she needs a magic cave to convince her, that's not a good sign."</p><p>He sighed. "You're right. I don't know how I'll show her though. I don't know what to do or say that's different from before, so that we wouldn't just end up in the same place again."</p><p>"You'll figure it out when the time comes." Aang assured him.</p><p>They followed the crystals back to the cave entrance. There they found the two badgermoles making Appa's acquaintance, with Toph mediating between the massive creatures.</p><p>That night, Sokka wrote a letter:</p><p>Dear Suki,</p><p>Today we explored this cavern near Omashu called the Cave of the Two Lovers. Have you heard of it? There's a whole legend about it. The first time we were here, a year ago, we were with these crazy, idiotic, drugged-up nomads whose singing made me twitchy. There was a landslide, and we got stuck in the cave, and the badgermoles dug us out. They're gigantic and terrifying, but they like folk ballads. Good times.</p><p>When we went into the cave today, Toph immediately ran off to play with the badgermoles, and I was left alone with my sister and her boyfriend. Thanks to those two, I found out the cave works like a magic love detector. If you kiss the one you love in the dark, these crystals light up and show you the way out.</p><p>I know you haven't replied yet to my last letter, and that's ok. I know you're busy. You don't have to rush to reply. I just don't want to wait anymore until I hear from you before I send another letter. I want to keep reaching out toward you in the dark. That's something I learned in the cave. I'll keep writing you as much as I can until you tell me to stop.</p><p>I've enclosed our schedule. First Gaoling for Earth Rumble VII, then Ba Sing Se. Did King Keui invite you to his Spring Festival ball? If not, I'm allowed to bring a guest, and I'd love to take you if you can make it. But I understand if you can't come or don't want to.</p><p>I hope the Kyoshi Warriors are living up to your high expectations, and that the chi-blocking lessons are going well. Has your sister been initiated yet? Let me know when that happens so I can send her a note of congratulations.</p><p>I wish you'd been with me in the cave today.</p><p>Love,</p><p>Sokka</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a review if you liked the chapter!</p><p>Maybe the cave doesn’t really work like this in canon, as a kind of magic love detector, but it’s kind of ambiguous, so I decided I liked the idea that the crystals only turned on for true love’s kiss. </p><p>I'm taking next week off for the holiday, and may need some more time after that for the next chapters. Please follow so you can get an email when I update!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Gaoling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 31: Gaoling</p>
<p>"How far are we from Gaoling?" Katara asked Aang, calling from the saddle to Appa's head.</p>
<p>"Less than an hour." He jumped back and joined the other three. "Getting excited for your big homecoming, Toph?"</p>
<p>"Are you sure we can't just fly right over and go straight to Ba Sing Se?" The earthbender asked miserably.</p>
<p>"The Earth King isn't expecting us for another week." Sokka pointed out. "And you and Aang are supposed to appear at Earth Rumble. They've promoted the event with both your names and we've accepted an advance payment on ticket sales." Sokka was particularly proud of the way he'd negotiated the contract by mail.</p>
<p>"But we can fight at Earth Rumble without seeing my parents. We can just stay at a hotel, or camp." Toph argued.</p>
<p>Her friends exchanged glances. They'd known Toph's parents were a sore spot for her, but it was very unlike her to avoid a problem instead of facing it.</p>
<p>When they didn't respond to her suggestion, Toph explained herself. "I know it's insensitive for me to say this, since you've all lost at least one parent, but sometimes parents are terrible, and you're better off without them."</p>
<p>The other three were silent for a moment, looking at each other and taking in their friend's extreme statement, trying to understand it objectively.</p>
<p>"I think that is definitely true in some cases," Katara answered carefully. "Zuko, for example. But are you saying your parents are that bad?"</p>
<p>Toph sighed. "No, they're not that bad. Obviously they didn't try to take over the world or burn half my face off. But I ran away for a reason, and if things are the same, I'm not going to stick around."</p>
<p>"Maybe you can give them a second chance?" Aang proposed. "You can see if there's anything there worth salvaging, and if not, you'll know that at least you tried."</p>
<p>"We'll be right there with you," Katara assured her.</p>
<p>When Appa landed in the large garden of the Beifong estate, servants poured out of the mansion to see the return of their young mistress. Lao and Poppy Beifong stepped forward to greet the teenagers as they came down from the sky bison's back.</p>
<p>Aang's eyes watched hungrily as the older couple came forward and hugged Toph, but he couldn't tell what any of the three were feeling about this reunion. Lady Beifong was wiping her eyes, and Toph and her father both looked stiff and gruff. Were they putting on a show of being emotional, or unemotional? Or were they truly touched to be together again, and hiding it?</p>
<p>The couple invited the young people in for dinner. "I asked cook to make your favorite moo-pork dumplings, dear." Lady Beifong said to Toph. "And I remembered your friend is vegetarian, so we have noodles and sugar beets…"</p>
<p>"Thanks, that sounds great!" Aang enthused. "Not many hosts make accommodations for my eating habits."</p>
<p>Seated at the opulent dining table, waited on by multiple servants, eating from fine china, the six made awkward small talk about their flight, the weather, and the food.</p>
<p>In a lull in the conversation, Lao Beifong suddenly started talking in nonsense syllables. Katara, Aang, and Sokka looked at each other in confusion, and were even more astonished when Toph answered in similar sounds, her face pointed straight down at her plate, but making the tiniest smile. Some of the tension in the room seemed to dissipate.</p>
<p>When Sokka heard Lao mention the factory he owned, where his workers processed iron ore into metal, he began a series of questions that dominated the conversation for the rest of dinner. Always fascinated with technology, he wanted to understand how every process functioned, and Lao was only too happy to explain, since he rarely had such a willing listener in his home. He seemed somewhat surprised that a young man from the South Pole knew enough about science and industry to ask insightful questions. The others ate the delicious food quietly, somewhat relieved not to have to come up with something to say themselves.</p>
<p>Before they went to bed, Katara asked Toph about the incomprehensible words she and her father had spoken to each other.</p>
<p>She seemed embarrassed. "It's kind of a secret language he made up and taught me when I was little. We used it to talk about my mom and the servants behind their backs. You put the beginning of a word at the end…. I didn't know he remembered." Katara found that incredibly sweet, but didn't want to say so and make the earthbender scowl.</p>
<p>When they went to sleep, Toph in her old bedroom and her three friends in the same guest room they'd used a year ago, they all felt somewhat hopeful. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad visit after all.</p>
<p>______________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>The next morning at breakfast, Lao Beifong wasn't there; he'd already left early for his factory. Toph's friends were surprised to see her come down to the table in a white dress with elaborate embroidery at the neckline, her hair pulled back from her face.</p>
<p>"The maid wrestled me into it. She's so old I would have hurt her if I tried to fight back." She explained in a low voice to her friends. "Just tell me this isn't because we're expecting the matchmaker." She groaned miserably at her mother.</p>
<p>"No," Poppy Beifong replied stiffly. "She refused to come."</p>
<p>"Best news I've heard since we got here," Toph said, relaxing visibly.</p>
<p>When they finished eating, her mother asked briskly, "Well, Toph, are you here to stay, or do you plan to continue this disreputable gallivanting around the world?"</p>
<p>"I don't know," Toph replied through gritted teeth. "Would I have to pretend to be a helpless little blind girl?"</p>
<p>Sokka tried to distract Lady Beifong from her daughter's reply. He could tell it was a rhetorical question meant only to start a fight. Besides, the mother's premise was flawed, and he wanted to point that out. "Traveling isn't exactly disreputable when you're the invited guest of multiple world leaders, is it? I mean, a palace is a pretty respectable place, am I right?"</p>
<p>"Our next stop is Ba Sing Se." Aang told Lady Beifong, catching on to Sokka's attempt at preventing an argument. "Maybe you can come along with us? Not on Appa, that might get too crowded, but Toph mentioned that you have a house there."</p>
<p>"Yes, we do own a house in the upper ring. We go there every year for the season."</p>
<p>"What season is that, fall? Spring?" Katara asked brightly, hoping to lead the conversation to a safe topic, unaware that revealing her ignorance of high society customs made her look exactly like the unsophisticated bumpkin she was trying not to be. Toph cringed visibly at her friend's misstep.</p>
<p>"The social season. A series of balls and parties for the elite of Earth Kingdom society, beginning with the blooming of the cherryrose trees." Her mother replied, nose in the air.</p>
<p>"Like the Spring Festival Ball?" Aang asked. "We're going to that."</p>
<p>The older woman appeared to be taken aback. "Yes, that is typically the highlight of the season."</p>
<p>"King Keui has invited all of us, including Toph, as guests of honor." The airbender informed her. "You know, since we saved his kingdom and everything. Did Toph mention she's a war hero? She's even got a medal."</p>
<p>"I suppose you will need a new gown, Toph." Her mother said. "We will go to Madam Malkin's dress shop."</p>
<p>Toph groaned. "I hate shopping! Why did you have to mention the ball?"</p>
<p>"Sorry," Aang muttered to her.</p>
<p>"I'd like to come with you, if that's all right, Lady Beifong", Katara asked politely. She wanted to provide a buffer and support for her friend, and she also enjoyed shopping in the different places where they traveled. "I need a new dress for the ball too."</p>
<p>"We have to meet with the Earth Rumble people anyway," Sokka put in.</p>
<p>After a short carriage ride into town, Katara and Toph found themselves inside an exclusive boutique full of silk gowns and fine cotton sheets. Poppy Beifong made a single suggestion, and almost immediately she and her daughter were arguing. The root issue seemed to be a fundamental disagreement over whether the purpose of clothing was elegance and sartorial expression, or simple comfort. Katara could tell they'd had the same dispute many times before. She pulled Toph to a different corner of the store to separate the two.</p>
<p>There, Katara found a pale yellow dress with light blue and green trim. She thought it would look nice when she was standing next to Aang in his formal yellow robe. When she touched it, she was amazed at the smooth silkiness of the almost weightless material, and insisted that Toph feel how soft it was.</p>
<p>"You're wondering if Aang will like it." Toph stated, and felt her friend's pulse quicken. "Trust me, if you're in it, he'll like it."</p>
<p>Poppy Beifong, who had followed the girls quietly, looked at the waterbender in surprise. "What do your parents think of that? Of you traveling with a boy who's….interested in you in that way?"</p>
<p>"Well, my mother was killed years ago." Katara explained. She had the urge to shock the society lady and show her there were different, easier ways for parents and teenagers to relate to each other. "My dad and grandmother both like Aang. What's not to like? He's sweet and polite to them, he treats me well, he saved the whole world… And I think my family knows that if they tried to forbid me from dating him or traveling with him, I'd just do it anyway, and stop visiting them. So they've wisely decided not to make it an issue." She saw Toph pick up on her intention and smirk a little.</p>
<p>Lady Beifong pursed her lips, her disapproval deepening.</p>
<p>"You were thinking about setting me up with Aang, weren't you?" Toph accused her mother. "You figured if the matchmaker won't see me, then the Avatar is prestigious enough to marry into the Beifongs? Well, as you just heard, he's taken." She paused, then added. "Sokka too."</p>
<p>"What about your pen pals?" Katara teased Toph, thinking of Chao and Chen in Omashu.</p>
<p>"What pen pals? I can't write." Toph deadpanned. Clearly she did not want her mom to know about them, so Katara shut her mouth. Was that because her mother would disapprove, or approve too much? The twins were royalty, so probably the latter.</p>
<p>A small jade gown caught Katara's eye, giving her a chance to change the subject. She picked it up and showed the other two how the dress looked like a compromise between the fashionable, constricting styles the mother favored, and the loose, boyish ones the daughter preferred. She hustled her friend into the dressing room with it, feeling endlessly relieved to have found something her fractious shopping companions could agree on. After Poppy picked out a selection of handkerchiefs and table linens, they were ready to leave. Katara would have paid for her dress, but before she knew it, they were walking out of the shop without even discussing payment with the attendants. She supposed the Beifongs were above talk of money, since they could have afforded to buy the whole store, and it was all simply charged to their account.</p>
<p>When the women returned from the shop, the boys had just arrived at the estate, laden with Earth Rumble merchandise. Toph's father, home from the factory, came out to meet them as well.</p>
<p>"Shirts for everybody!" Sokka declared, passing out apparel, commemorative cups, posters, and action figures. "They gave us extras for Zuko and Mai, Dad and Gran Gran and Pakku, all the Kyoshi Warriors, our friends from Omashu…."</p>
<p>Katara excitedly pulled a shirt over her head. "Look, sweetie, I'm your number one fan!" She pointed to Aang's face on her chest.</p>
<p>"My favorite fangirl," he kissed her on the cheek.</p>
<p>"That's enough of that," Sokka exclaimed roughly, getting between the two, shoving cups into their hands and covering their faces with shirts depicting Toph as the Blind Bandit. Katara thought she noticed Lady Beifong make a little V-shaped smile when she saw this, and realized she and her boyfriend hadn't exactly been completely unchaperoned in their travels.</p>
<p>"Hey, Toph, want to go practice for Earth Rumble?" Aang asked, putting the souvenirs away. "We saw a quarry on the way to the stadium; it reminded me of the place where you gave me my first earthbending lessons."</p>
<p>"That quarry is much too dangerous!" Lao Beifong spoke up before his daughter could, his voice stern. "Three workers were killed in a landslide there."</p>
<p>"Like these two couldn't stop a landslide." Sokka snickered. "Come on, sir, that quarry can't be any more dangerous than the Fire Nation airship we infiltrated. Or that volcanic crater where Combustion Man attacked us."</p>
<p>Poppy Beifong gasped, her hand clutching her necklace.</p>
<p>Katara elbowed her brother. "I don't think you're helping things." She muttered.</p>
<p>"I will not allow it." The nobleman stated adamantly, crossing his arms.</p>
<p>"Oh. Well, we could train here in the garden instead," Aang suggested, eager to avoid a fight.</p>
<p>"What's the point?" Toph spat. "You're the one who needs practice, not me." She stomped into the house and shut herself in her room.</p>
<p>Her parents shrugged at each other and went into the house as well, the father to his office, and the mother to her sewing room.</p>
<p>Aang, Katara, and Sokka looked at each other, dumbfounded.</p>
<p>The airbender rubbed the back of his head. "Ummm, wanna visit Appa?" The two Water Tribe siblings nodded and followed their friend. The sky bison always had a calming effect on them.</p>
<p>There was a surprise in the stable: a flurry of red and brown feathers descended from the rafters. Katara shrieked and ducked; Aang covered her with his arms, but Sokka cried out joyfully, "Hawky!" The bird landed on the boy's forearm and squawked. His long-lost master spoke back, as if the messenger hawk could answer him. "Did you stay here after my mean old sister sent you away from me? I guess you didn't know where I was after that, did you? Did they take good care of you?" Sokka dug in his bag for popcorn from the stadium, and gave the bird as many treats as it would eat, then played a kind of game of fetch with it.</p>
<p>Aang and Katara watched her brother's reunion with his pet, while stroking Appa's fur and checking his food and water.</p>
<p>"That's how it should be, right? When you see someone you love again after a long time?" Aang asked, watching the boy and his bird.</p>
<p>"Yeah. More like that than like this, anyway." Katara gestured to the mansion. "They really make me appreciate my dad and Gran Gran."</p>
<p>"I'm going to write a letter to Suki!" Sokka was heading to the house for paper. "I can write her even more if I've got my own hawk, and I'm not just using one of Zuko's when they're free…."</p>
<p>"Want to hide out here til dinner?" Katara asked.</p>
<p>"That sounds great." Aang settled down next to her on Appa's tail. "I should probably practice earthbending, but it's not like I'm trying to win the tournament anyway."</p>
<p>"You're going to be amazing. I'll be cheering for you."</p>
<p>He smiled at her, but there was something sad and guarded behind it.</p>
<p>"No pressure, just support." She clarified.</p>
<p>He put his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. "You're really good at that."</p>
<p>She tried again to get to the bottom of his mood. "Let me guess. You feel responsible for what's happening here." She meant between Toph and her parents.</p>
<p>"If I'd never asked her to run off and be my teacher….."</p>
<p>"Isn't it clear to you that what's wrong here got started long before we ever came to Gaoling?"</p>
<p>He sighed. "Yeah. But I kind of brought it to a head, forced Toph to make a choice. Deepened this rift between them, so that it might not be bridgeable anymore."</p>
<p>"I don't think Toph is sorry about it. If you hadn't come, she might have run off with a group of outlaws instead."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I can imagine that happening." He chuckled.</p>
<p>"I bet if you asked her, she'd say your showing up here was the best thing that ever happened to her. That's how I feel about finding you in that iceberg."</p>
<p>Aang gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Have I told you how glad I am that you're the one who found me?"</p>
<p>"A couple times, but I could always stand to hear it again." Katara lifted her face to his for more kisses.</p>
<p>________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Toph came down for dinner wearing her regular clothes. She'd changed out of the embroidered white dress the maid had forced her to put on that morning, and looked much more comfortable in her usual loose pants. There was something defiant about her attitude, as if she knew her choice of clothing constituted a challenge.</p>
<p>As soon as she saw her daughter, Lady Beifong's face fell in disappointment. "Oh, Toph. You looked so nice in that pretty white dress. Surely it's not too difficult to cooperate with some simple expectations for your appearance?"</p>
<p>"What do I care about how I look?" The girl replied, an aggressive edge in her voice.</p>
<p>Dinner was a tense, mostly silent affair. Sokka tried to get another conversation going about the metal refinery, but Lao's answers were short, and the boy had already asked most of his questions the previous night anyway. Earth Rumble seemed an out-of-bounds topic, as did the teenagers' travels and adventures. Aang asked the girls about their shopping trip, and Sokka thanked the Beifongs for taking care of Hawky. It turned out they hadn't even known their stable boy had been feeding the bird. When they retired to the sitting room for after-dinner tea, that was when things really got ugly.</p>
<p>The head of the Beifong family took a deep breath before addressing his daughter in his most imperious manner. "Your mother and I have been talking, Toph, and we've agreed that you should not participate in this wrestling competition. It's not safe. You could get very seriously injured. And, besides, it's not the proper place for a young noble lady."</p>
<p>"You think those guys stand a chance against me?" Toph smirked. "They're the ones who should be afraid. I'll be fine."</p>
<p>"Last year Toph didn't get a scratch on her!" Aang assured her parents. "You should have seen how quickly she took out this big guy who called himself The Boulder. Two moves. And now she can even metalbend!"</p>
<p>"I'm afraid you don't understand. We are forbidding it." Lao Beifong's tone was final.</p>
<p>For a moment they were all silent.</p>
<p>"Um, sir, we already signed a legally binding contract and accepted an advance." Sokka informed him awkwardly.</p>
<p>"Contracts can always be broken for the right price. I assure you we can afford to pay whatever penalties may ensue."</p>
<p>"It doesn't matter what you can afford. I want to fight." Toph banged her fist on the arm of the couch.</p>
<p>"It doesn't matter what you want." Her mother snapped at her. "We are thinking of your reputation. If it becomes public that you have been taking part in such vulgar competitions, you'll never find a husband."</p>
<p>Offended on her behalf, Sokka jumped in to defend Toph. "Any idiot guy who doesn't want to be with her—"</p>
<p>"Ha!" Toph barked.</p>
<p>Aang and Katara looked at each other with raised eyebrows.</p>
<p>Sokka reddened, sputtering a little before he repeated himself, adding some conditions. "Any idiot guy who's of an appropriate age and not already in love with someone else, who doesn't want to be with her-"</p>
<p>"I'm not worried about finding a man." Lady Beifong waved an unconcerned hand. "Men aren't picky, but their mothers are. That's why the matchmaker has high standards. When we heard you were on your way, Toph, we invited her here to see what she might say, but she wouldn't even meet you. We had to admit that you were traveling unchaperoned with at least two young men, engaging in combat…."</p>
<p>"That's all you want from me isn't it?" Toph shot back at her mother. "You want me to be boring so I can marry advantageously, as you would say. I don't know why you think I'd ever want anything to do with that. It's not like it made you that happy."</p>
<p>Toph's friends looked on in horror. They felt like they were watching a trainwreck, one they'd tried and failed to prevent. One that was probably inevitable.</p>
<p>"The point isn't happiness, it's respectability, and the Beifong name." The noble lady replied, her voice tight and almost shrill.</p>
<p>"I have honored the Beifong name! I'm a war hero, didn't you hear?" Toph yelled. "And if the point of marriage isn't happiness, then I don't want it! I have been happier since leaving here than I ever was in this house. I had friends who accepted me and challenging things to do. I could use my abilities to help people instead of acting like a fragile little weakling."</p>
<p>"No, it's clear you're not a weakling." Lao Beifong said stiffly, his anger coming out in clipped, precisely articulated words. "You're something worse. You're a child incapable of sound judgement. You're stubbornly, ignorantly resisting our efforts to protect you, and insisting on living a life that is not best for you."</p>
<p>"That's not best for YOU, you mean." His daughter retorted. "All you care about is your reputation. I'm sorry my saving the Earth Kingdom was so inconvenient for the esteemed Beifongs!"</p>
<p>Her father pounded the table next to his chair, making a lamp flicker. "We kept you safe for years, and this is how you repay us! Ungrateful—"</p>
<p>"You're right." Toph interrupted, standing up. "I have been ungrateful. I should thank you. After all, you're the reason I invented metalbending. Not just because you tried to have me kidnapped and transported in a metal box, not just by giving me something to escape from. That wouldn't have been enough if I didn't already know how to be the metal. All my life, you tried to do to me what your refineries do to iron ore. When I was in that cage I realized I knew what it was like to be melted down and pressed into an unnatural shape. I felt that heat and pressure boiling me down again, and it made me stronger, more resilient, unbreakable. And suddenly I was able to do something no one in history had ever done before. But you don't care about that. All that matters to you is that I don't fit in your mold. But I'm glad I'm not the soft, disabled little wimp you wanted me to be. Because I think even if I were, it wouldn't have been enough for you. You wanted a girl who could see, and who would actually like being shown off like a prize-winning pet. A mindless puppet who'd be thrilled to dress up for fancy parties and spend your money, and eventually marry whatever empty-headed twit you pick out. Start the whole cycle over again. But you know what? I don't care either! It doesn't bother me that you were too blind to see the daughter you had instead of the one you wanted. I know that I'm awesome, but I had to learn that in spite of you. I'm never going to let your ignorance keep me from loving myself. Because it looks like maybe I'm all I have."</p>
<p>Her friends got up from their chairs and joined her.</p>
<p>"Don't say that, Toph, you know it's not true!" Aang cried, grabbing her hand.</p>
<p>"We know you're awesome, even if they don't." Sokka told her, putting his hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>"We're your family. You've got us. Always." Katara reminded her.</p>
<p>Sokka turned indignantly to the older couple. "When I helped Toph take down the Fire Nation airships that were about to destroy your whole country, it was the bravest, most amazing thing I'd ever seen. If you would rather have a defenseless doll for a daughter, than a bonafide hero, just because you have sexist ideas about what a girl should be like, I don't know what to say to you except that you don't deserve Toph. If she had been a boy, even a blind one, would you feel differently about anything she's done? If her only value to you is as a prize to marry off to the highest bidder, then we will be thrilled to take her away from here and make sure she never has to see you again."</p>
<p>"You know, I was a runaway too." Aang admitted quietly. "I left my family in the middle of the night, and now they're gone. I was so excited to come here and see my friend get the reunion I'll never have. Toph told us that things would be tense here, and I knew her running away must not have been easy for you, but I thought surely, after so long apart, and after she helped save the Earth Kingdom, she would be welcomed and accepted in her home. I never imagined that leaving you and staying away might be the best thing Toph could do for herself. I'm sad for you, that you don't see how smart and skilled your daughter is, and how much fun! Not to mention what a great earthbender. I couldn't have defeated the Fire Lord without Toph's help. She taught me to hold my ground and fight instead of dodging and evading. She's naturally pugnacious like that, and I'm the opposite, but I needed to learn to be a little more like her to survive the comet. Toph never backs down from a fight, but I think she would have gone against her natural inclination and avoided this conflict if you'd let her. It's just too bad that you put her in a position where she had to choose between fighting you and losing herself."</p>
<p>"I know that Toph isn't easy to deal with. Katara began diplomatically. "She and I had a lot of disagreements over the past year. She is stubborn, and will almost never admit it when she's wrong. I had to bug her to contribute to setting up camp and even to bathe. I was kind of the mother of the group, taking care of everybody, including Toph. And that's how I know that any parent should be proud of her. It's a parent's job to accept their child, to love them not for who they want them to be, but to take them as they are. You know, it wasn't easy for my mom and dad that I was a waterbender. There was no one to teach me, and my talent caused them a lot of headaches because I didn't know how to control it. Just by being myself, I put the whole village in danger and cost my mother her life. But I never felt like I had to hide myself the way Toph did here. Now I see that Toph needed to be obstinate to hold on to who she was in this house. And I'm grateful for that, because I wouldn't want her to be anyone else. As different as we are, and as hard as it's been for us to get along sometimes, I'm glad she is exactly herself. And you should be too."</p>
<p>"We'll leave in the morning," Aang told the older couple, and led the other teenagers to their guest room. As soon as the door closed, the three had Toph surrounded in a group hug. It didn't last long, until she pushed them away, wiping her eyes.</p>
<p>"Thanks, guys. For what you said in there."</p>
<p>"It's all true." Aang told her.</p>
<p>"I'm so mad at them!" Katara fumed.</p>
<p>Toph took a deep breath. "I don't want to go back to my old room. They might have put servants in there to watch me. Can I sleep in here with you guys?"</p>
<p>The other three looked at each other for a minute. Of course their friend was welcome in their room, but there were only three beds.</p>
<p>Finally, Sokka asked, "Katara, would you rather share a bed with me or with Toph?"</p>
<p>They both sounded equally uncomfortable to the waterbender; she knew that her brother slept sprawled out, limbs colonizing the entire bed, and that Toph made abrupt punching and kicking movements in her sleep. Aang, though, he was a peaceful, compact sleeper, now that his nightmares had ended. And he was always warm. Sharing a bed with him would be easy. Cozy, even. But of course Sokka hadn't said that was an option. She might have fought about it, at least for the sake of provoking her brother, if they hadn't had quite enough arguing for one night.</p>
<p>Instead she just asked Toph, "Would you rather sleep next to me or in a bed by yourself?" She knew the younger girl was only asking to stay with them because she felt so hurt and vulnerable. Putting her friend's feelings first was more important than where she slept tonight.</p>
<p>"I could go sleep with Appa," Aang offered.</p>
<p>"Don't worry about it," Toph said, in an unusually agreeable way. "I'll sleep on the nice, cool stone floor. All that camping has made these beds feel too soft. I just like hearing you all breathe."</p>
<p>"You don't mind Sokka snoring?" Aang asked, trying to lighten the mood.</p>
<p>"I do not snore!" He objected.</p>
<p>"You do." Katara told him.</p>
<p>"Meh." Toph shrugged. "It's rhythmic. And I'm used to it."</p>
<p>They got ready for bed, passing Toph extra blankets and pillows to prop up her feet.</p>
<p>______________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Toph, Katara, Aang and Sokka were packing Appa's saddle and discussing where they could find accommodations in town when Lao and Poppy Beifong came down to the stable.</p>
<p>"Please don't leave." Lady Beifong implored her daughter.</p>
<p>The others looked to Toph to follow her lead. She crossed her arms. "I'm listening." Her friends stood behind her protectively.</p>
<p>"First of all, we didn't know Master Yu and Xin Fu would put you in a cage, Toph". Her father informed her. "I told them to use any means necessary to bring you back to me, but they're the ones who interpreted my instructions that way. I'd have them prosecuted for abusing you like that, but they seem to have disappeared."</p>
<p>"We honestly thought you had kidnapped her," the noblewoman said to Aang. "It wasn't until we got her letter that we found out she'd left of her own free will."</p>
<p>"Wow, you guys really don't know me at all, do you?" Toph asked incredulously. "After the way you promised to lock me down and never let me do anything ever, you thought I wanted to stay here?"</p>
<p>"No, I suppose we don't know you." Her mother replied sadly. "We had no clue you were this unhappy."</p>
<p>"You carried out this whole secret life behind our backs, fighting in a wrestling ring." Her father pointed out. "Surely you understand why we'd think that was unsafe? And why we couldn't trust you to have any freedom, if you were sneaking around and lying to us like that?"</p>
<p>"Surely you understand why I didn't tell you the truth?" Toph retorted. "When you found out, you just proved I had been right to keep it from you."</p>
<p>"That's fair. We're sorry, Toph." Lao Beifong apologized. "Our mistake was trying too hard to protect you. We didn't imagine how…. smothering it might become. I hope you realize that we did that because we do love you. And we want to accept you, just as you are. But now I see that we never understood you. We didn't know what you needed from us, or perhaps we refused to listen, because we were too scared that you would get hurt or rejected in the world outside our estate. You were right that keeping you sheltered was what we needed, not you. And now you've made it clear that if we keep trying to cling to you and tie you down, you'll just run away again and never come back. At this point, all we want is to have you in our lives in whatever way you'll allow."</p>
<p>"We lost you once and don't want to lose you again." Her mother put in, almost getting teary. "The house was so empty and lonely…."</p>
<p>"Please, Toph. Stay." Her father begged. "Let us get to know the real you."</p>
<p>The teens exchanged glances. The Beifongs seemed to have learned their lesson. They were all focused on Toph, wondering what she would say. She appeared deep in thought for several moments, keeping them in suspense.</p>
<p>Finally, she offered a condition. "There will be no arranged marriage. I've been around people who are really in love, and I don't want to give up my chance on that just to live in a fancy house. I marry someone I pick, in my own time, or I just don't ever get married. I hear one word about a matchmaker ever again, and that's the last time you see me."</p>
<p>"Done." Lao responded, as if it were a business deal. His wife threw him a panicked glance, but he held his hand up to quiet her. He seemed to recognize that he had no negotiating power here and must accept his daughter's terms. "Is that all?" He asked. "We'll do anything to make it up to you."</p>
<p>Toph grinned. "You could come to Earth Rumble."</p>
<p>Her parents looked at each other again. "The….wrestling match?" Her mother asked with trepidation.</p>
<p>"Yeah, the earthbending tournament. The one I won two years ago, and my mom and dad weren't even there to see it. I was the youngest champion ever. I think it would be the perfect place for you to meet the real me."</p>
<p>Toph's friends could almost see her mother weighing the disgrace of being seen in such a place with the necessity of proving her sincerity to her daughter. "All right, we'll come." She nodded stoutly, as if she'd just agreed to face the wrestlers herself.</p>
<p>____________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>As trip planner, Sokka had scheduled and negotiated his friends' appearances at Earth Rumble. He hadn't had to bargain hard; once he'd recognized how eager the wrestling organization was to feature his two friends, he'd been able to name his price. Despite the big payment Aang and Toph would be receiving, the Earth Rumble organizers were surely going to make record profits on the event. They'd aggressively promoted the Avatar's participation, charged higher ticket prices than ever before, and still sold out. They had tried to talk Sokka into multiple engagements, but he said Aang was too busy. That meant they could advertise it as a one-time-only event, which only increased demand for tickets. Aang and Toph would both be paid handsomely, in addition to any prize money they might win.</p>
<p>When Katara heard how much her boyfriend was going to earn, she elbowed him. "That's another possible career opportunity for you. Pro bending."</p>
<p>"That might be fun." Aang scratched his chin. "I think I'd like it better as a team sport, though."</p>
<p>The Beifongs and their guests all put on their gear and loaded into the carriage. Katara wore her shirt with Aang's face, and over her hair she had a green and yellow leather headpiece with puff balls at the ears, similar to the one Toph had worn as the Blind Bandit. Sokka wore a Blind Bandit shirt and a cap with a blue arrow on it. They had talked the Beifongs into putting on Blind Bandit shirts as well. Katara had pointed out to Lady Beifong that it would make her less recognizable, as surely no one would expect to see an aristocrat like her dressed that way.</p>
<p>At the door to the arena, Katara kissed Aang and said, "Have fun, sweetie." He was in his usual one-shoulder tunic, though the Earth Rumble organizers had tried to talk him into adding a cape or some sparkling crystals to his outfit.</p>
<p>Sokka tousled Toph's hair affectionately. "Go get that belt!" She was wearing a metal breastplate she'd made that morning, with loose green shorts that looked like a skirt at certain angles. When a wrestler changes her name, she has to change her costume, she'd explained.</p>
<p>"Be careful, dear!" Lady Beifong called anxiously to her daughter before she disappeared into the locker room.</p>
<p>Toph shook her head. "Careful doesn't win championships, Mom."</p>
<p>When they got to their seats, Sokka explained the rules of Earth Rumble to the Beifongs. "There's a tournament among the regular wrestlers first. Then the winner of the tournament has to beat last year's defending champion. That's Aang. Then the winner of that match will take on any challengers. Last year that was how Aang first met Toph. He challenged her and won."</p>
<p>"Toph is planning to challenge Aang again to take back her title," Katara informed them.</p>
<p>"She thinks she can beat the Avatar?" Lao Beifong asked, horrified.</p>
<p>"Sure." Sokka shrugged, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "She's a much better earthbender than he is. He could probably be considered a master, but it's still his worst element. He used airbending to beat Toph last year, and this year he said he's only going to use earthbending."</p>
<p>They watched the garishly dressed and strangely named wrestlers face off against each other. Sokka enjoyed the spectacle just as he had the previous year, cheering and hooting. As the show went on, Lao Beifong started to appreciate it as a form of theater, it seemed, but his wife's horror at the uncouth violence only increased with each match.</p>
<p>Finally, for the tournament's last match, The Dirt Bag, whose costume was a filthy sack, faced Graveler, who had covered himself with pebbles as a kind of armor. The Dirt Bag's fighting specialty was sending dust clouds to confuse his adversaries and make them cough. But Graveler was able to turn the arena floor into thousands of tiny rocks that he used to either pelt other competitors or create a surge that pushed them out of bounds. When winner was determined, Graveler stood victorious.</p>
<p>"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. Graveler versus your champion, Avatar Aang!" The orange-clad teen stepped into the arena, waving to the crowd.</p>
<p>"The Avatar? I have to fight the Avatar?" Graveler cowered.</p>
<p>Aang encouraged his opponent. "Hey, don't worry, I promise I'll only use earthbending. You're obviously really good at wrestling other earthbenders, and it's my least favorite way to fight! I actually don't like fighting at all. I'm a pacifist. This is just for fun."</p>
<p>Graveler was too overawed and intimidated by the slight teenager to fight properly. He barely defended himself. Aang pitied him and would have thrown the match, except that he wanted to be the one to face Toph's challenge next. He simply put up a wall and used it to push the man out of bounds while he crouched behind it. It was probably the least interesting match of the night.</p>
<p>"Your winner, and still the champion, Avatar Aang!" The announcer boomed. He struck a couple poses for the cheering crowd. Katara thought he sought her eyes in the stands and winked at her.</p>
<p>"To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat Avatar Aang!" The announcer paused dramatically. "What, no one dares to face him?"</p>
<p>A bold, but girlish voice boomed out from one corner of the arena. "They used to call me the Blind Bandit, but I'm not hiding behind an alias anymore. My name is Toph Beifong, and I'm the greatest earthbender of all time!"</p>
<p>"Hi, Sifu!" Aang waved brightly.</p>
<p>"You got to give it to her, she knows how to put on a show." Sokka pointed out.</p>
<p>"She knows how to brag," Katara corrected him.</p>
<p>Toph stepped forward and continued her challenge, pointing to Aang in the arena. "I taught the Avatar everything he knows about earthbending, and that's how I know I can beat him. He's been easy on the other wrestlers, limiting himself to earthbending. But Avatar Aang, I can beat you with any two of your elements!"</p>
<p>Excited murmurs swept across the audience. This challenge match was shaping up to be the best in Earth Rumble history!</p>
<p>"Oh no. She can't do it if he picks air." Sokka started chewing his nails. "Any two of the others, she can beat him. But if he flies, if he takes his feet off the ground, she won't have a clue where he is."</p>
<p>"If I know Aang, he'll let her win." Katara thought of how they'd sparred on their date. This wasn't romantic, but he would make sure that Toph felt good about herself when this was over. Earth Rumble mattered to Toph; it had been the way she had first proven her skill to the world and herself. For Aang, this was just a fun sparring match. Katara knew he would play along with using his elements strategically to let their friend win and make it an enjoyable battle for everyone to watch.</p>
<p>"Let her? She'll wipe the floor with him!" called a fan behind them. "Go Bandit!"</p>
<p>Next to Sokka, Lao Beifong was having a panic attack. "He's the Avatar! He just defeated the Fire Lord! He won't hurt her, will he?"</p>
<p>Katara reassured him. "Of course not. He has complete control."</p>
<p>"So does she." Sokka put in. "She can defend herself."</p>
<p>In the arena, the combatants were setting their terms.</p>
<p>"I can pick which two elements?" Aang asked to clarify.</p>
<p>"Sure." Toph answered with a cocky shrug.</p>
<p>"Best two of three rounds?"</p>
<p>"As always."</p>
<p>"All right. Air and earth!" He yelled, spinning and sending a strong wind right at Toph. She brought her forearms in front of her face, raising a wall to shelter herself. The people in the crowd behind her lost their hats to the wild gust. Then Aang chopped his arm at the wall, cutting it off from the bottom, so that it began to topple down on Toph. She laughed and lifted it above her head before throwing it at him. He jumped up and landed on it, riding it until it fell to the ground and skidded to a stop just inside the boundary. The rest of that round was a bit of a game of hide and seek. Aang flew and flipped around the arena, dodging rocks that Toph tossed wherever she thought he was. Sometimes he intercepted the rocks in midair and tossed them in different directions to mislead her. She also tried to grab his feet with the earth whenever he touched down for an instant, but he could free himself just as easily, so she stopped bothering with that after a while. After that first attack, he didn't use air offensively again, and stuck to his typical evasion techniques. The round timed out at ten minutes; neither won, so Aang, as the defender, got the point.</p>
<p>"Round two!" The announcer called.</p>
<p>"I'd pick water but there isn't any around." Aang called.</p>
<p>The tournament organizers were ready for this. Toph had warned them of the additional challenge she wanted to set for herself, and they'd been only too eager to cooperate. They'd known that bending multiple elements would make their spectacle extra memorable, so they wanted to make it possible. Large stone troughs of water appeared around the edge of the arena.</p>
<p>"That enough for you?" The attendants asked him.</p>
<p>"Thanks, that's perfect." He told them. "Water and earth!"</p>
<p>Aang shot hard, fast streams of water at Toph, but she just put up a stone shield and dug in her heels. He tried it again and again, even after everyone could tell it wasn't working. And then it was too late: the dirt on the arena floor had been turned to mud. All except the area around Toph's feet. She had hardened it to stone, so that the water just rolled off, making the rest of the ground even muddier. Aang felt foolish: of course the two elements would mix this way and backfire on him like this. Then Toph started pushing him through the mud toward the boundary line. His feet kept slipping, but she didn't seem to be having the same problem.</p>
<p>Katara understood what was happening and described it to the others. "She's controlling the consistency of ALL of the earth in the arena, so that the ground under her feet stays hard like a stone, while the dirt he's trying to manage stays soft and absorbs all the water."</p>
<p>Sokka made an impressed face. "I didn't know she could do that."</p>
<p>"I guess it's similar to how I can work with liquid water and ice at the same time." His sister explained.</p>
<p>"Maybe she's been watching you."</p>
<p>Katara snickered at her brother's slip. "I doubt that."</p>
<p>In the arena, Toph continued to push Aang, and his feet could find no traction to resist her. Soon, his foot crossed the boundary.</p>
<p>"Toph Beifong wins round two! The score is tied!" The announcer yelled, and the crowd went wild.</p>
<p>Both combatants took a minute to bend the dirt off their clothes. Toph normally wouldn't have cared, but the mud was kind of caked on in an uncomfortable way, and the importance of these kinds of appearances had been explained to her by the event organizers. They needed to give the badgermole some time to clean up the arena anyway.</p>
<p>"How do you like that tied score, Twinkle Toes?" Toph jeered once they were clean and ready to fight again.</p>
<p>"I think I'd like to burn it up!" Aang yelled. He was getting into this trash-talk thing. He called his elements: "Earth and fire!"</p>
<p>Aang shot fireballs at Toph, which she blocked easily. Her parents clutched each other desperately, and her mother hid her face in her father's shoulder.</p>
<p>Then Toph knocked her opponent upside the head with a big chunk of dirt, making him stumble. Katara gasped and grabbed Sokka's arm. It gave Toph only a moment to use to her advantage. She bent down and touched the dirt on the arena floor. With some intense concentration, she heated it until it turned bright red and flowed as lava. A gasp went up from the crowd. Toph pulled the molten rock up into a vertical wave and pushed it toward Aang, spiraling it around him.</p>
<p>"She copied that move from me!" Katara realized. It galled her to see it used against her boyfriend.</p>
<p>Aang couldn't stop the oncoming lava with fire, and couldn't bend it in that form, so he was practically helpless. He tried bending a wall, but it got knocked down. Then he raised himself above the wave on a pillar, which only put him in danger of being undercut and toppled into the magma. When he saw the bright red surge closing in on him, Aang tried to cool it down with dust, but he wasn't any good at controlling the temperature of earth. Before the lava could touch him, he blew on it, knowing he was breaking the rule and forfeiting the round. Still, all that accomplished was keeping him from getting burnt as the liquid rock surrounded him and hardened, so that he was trapped in a cone with only his head poking out the top.</p>
<p>"Did you catch how he blew just now?" Sokka pointed out. "Bet anything he was airbending to cool the lava down. That means he used 3 elements, so he loses."</p>
<p>Katara's arms were crossed and she looked upset. "He really could have gotten hurt. I thought Toph would be more careful."</p>
<p>"You got me, Sifu!" Aang called out goodnaturedly from his obsidian prison.</p>
<p>"Of course I did, Twinkle Toes. Now say it!"</p>
<p>"You are the greatest earthbender of all time."</p>
<p>"And don't any of you ever forget it!" The crowd cheered while Toph lifted her arms in victory.</p>
<p>_____________________________________________________________</p>
<p>The next morning, the Beifongs and the teenagers were having breakfast, and everyone seemed to be in a much better mood than they had since the sky bison had landed on the estate.</p>
<p>"So how did you feel watching your daughter defeat the Avatar?" Sokka asked Lao smugly. "Does it assure you of her safety? Make you feel like she can take care of herself and doesn't need your protection?"</p>
<p>"The strange thing is that, yes, it did. I think I'll always feel protective of her. I won't ever fully trust the world not to hurt her. But I never imagined my little girl could be so…..formidable." Toph grinned in a very self-satisfied way. Her father glanced at his wife and took her hand. "I think we're ready to hear the whole story. Everything that happened, all that you did. No leaving anything out. We can handle it." The older couple braced themselves.</p>
<p>So Toph led the storytelling, with the others chiming in. It took most of the day. They took breaks to eat and illustrated the story with demonstrations in the garden or used pai sho pieces to show how they and their enemies had been positioned during a conflict. When the story was finally concluded and brought up to date, they all sat in awed silence for a couple minutes.</p>
<p>"Well? What are you thinking?" Toph asked nervously.</p>
<p>"I'm just amazed. You did all that on your own?" Lao Beifong asked in wonder.</p>
<p>"Well, we had each other." Aang answered.</p>
<p>"Yes. You do seem to make a good team."</p>
<p>"We're more than that, we're a family." Sokka corrected him, throwing his arms around Katara and Toph.</p>
<p>"Yes." The older man seemed genuinely puzzled. "What makes it work?"</p>
<p>"We just….trust each other." Aang shrugged, as if that were simple.</p>
<p>Lao Beifong gazed at his daughter with unbearable sorrow in his eyes. "I suppose that's what we need to do, too." He looked at his wife to share his new understanding. "Have faith in Toph and just…. let go."</p>
<p>"Sometimes that's the best way to show love," Aang said wisely.</p>
<p>"At the same time, it is….hard to accept. If you don't need us to protect you and keep you safe, darling, then what do you need us for at all?" Lao asked his daughter mournfully.</p>
<p>When Toph didn't answer immediately, Katara jumped in. "For comfort and closeness. To enjoy each other's company and share life's simple moments and transitions. I think I'm always going to need my mom. I've had to figure out how to get by without her, but that need doesn't go away. It just turns into an empty ache when it doesn't get filled. That's why I'm glad it's not too late for you."</p>
<p>"Just because we can get by and survive without our parents, and just because we like traveling the world and being free, doesn't mean we love them any less." Sokka added.</p>
<p>"It does mean we're growing up and we don't want to be controlled anymore." Toph put in.</p>
<p>"The relationship you have with your parents as an adult is different from when you're a kid." Sokka said philosophically.</p>
<p>"But you are still kids." Lao protested.</p>
<p>"No, not really." Sokka shook his head. "Somewhere along the way between surviving on our own, facing death, and defeating a dictator, we grew up."</p>
<p>"For your sake, I'm sorry that happened that way." Katara said regretfully. "The war cheated you out of some good years of your daughter's childhood."</p>
<p>"I guess when we came here last year, I kind of….drafted Toph into the war, and she answered the call." Aang shrugged apologetically. "She could have stayed here, in this protected little haven away from all of the fighting. But she chose to give up her privileges and face danger and hardship. You kept her safe, and then she turned around and made the rest of the world just as safe as her home."</p>
<p>The Beifongs seemed to like this interpretation of events. It made Toph's decision to leave less a rejection of them, and more an unavoidable patriotic duty.</p>
<p>"We are proud of you," Toph's father told her, taking her hand hesitantly.</p>
<p>"Very proud," her mother echoed.</p>
<p>Toph's face pointed down, her hair hiding her smile.</p>
<p>"I suppose we owe the three of you a debt of gratitude," Lao said to the other teens. "You took care of Toph and understood her when we couldn't. Thank you."</p>
<p>"She took care of us too." Aang reassured them.</p>
<p>"Saved our sorry a---behinds several times." Sokka added.</p>
<p>"I just….feel like I don't know what to expect for your future, dear." Lady Beifong said carefully. "Every girl in both of our families went to the matchmaker. It's scary for me to watch you go off on your own in an entirely new direction, with no one to show you the way or support you. I know you don't want us to arrange a marriage for you, but it makes me feel so worried! And like I'm failing in my duty toward you. Who will look after you? Where will you live?"</p>
<p>Toph waved away her concern, "I'll find my own way. I can fight, build, sculpt, scam—there's not much I can't do. I know how to survive. Running away gave me all of these experiences I would never have gotten here."</p>
<p>"You can do anything, but what would you like to do?" Her father asked.</p>
<p>Toph grinned, and Katara could practically watch her gain an inch in height as her chest puffed up in pride. She wondered if anyone had ever asked Toph a question like that, one for a child with endless potential. One that boys got asked more often than girls, and that was practically never directed to a young person with an impairment.</p>
<p>"I think I want to teach metalbending." Toph replied. "Like, start a school. Teaching Aang was fun." She punched his arm.</p>
<p>"Fun for you, maybe." Aang put in, rubbing the spot.</p>
<p>"You just like telling people what to do," Sokka told her.</p>
<p>"Yeah. And yelling. I love yelling."</p>
<p>"We were going to leave tomorrow for Ba Sing Se, but we hope we'll see you there," Katara told the older couple.</p>
<p>"Yes, I think we will come." Lady Beifong said. "The King's Spring Festival Ball is always an event worth attending. Would you like to travel to the city with us, Toph?" The mother's eyes were full of hope and vulnerability.</p>
<p>"We can talk about your metalbending school on the way." Lao added an enticement.</p>
<p>"And I'll pack some of those dumplings for the road?" Lady Beifong offered.</p>
<p>Lao said something in that made-up language that only Toph could understand, making another smile appear on her face.</p>
<p>"Well, a carriage is closer to the good solid ground. I still sometimes get airsick on Appa." She decided.</p>
<p>"Great!" Aang said. "We can meet you there!"</p>
<p>As the teenagers went to their room for the night, Sokka nudged his friend and said in a low voice, "If we can get this family to reconcile, it kind of gives you hope for the colonies, doesn't it?"</p>
<p>"You know, it does." Aang replied thoughtfully. "And all it took was a wrestling match."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's note: Inspiration for Toph's words about the origins of her metalbending come from The Promise graphic novel. Same for her words about why she wants to start a metalbending school.</p>
<p>Lao and Toph's made up language is supposed to be something like Pig Latin, if that wasn't obvious.</p>
<p>Bonus points for anyone who can find the non-ATLA reference in this chapter!</p>
<p>Please leave me a review and tell me what you liked about this chapter!</p>
<p>I don't have the following chapter ready, so I won't promise to update on time next week, but let me know if you want a PM instead. I'm sending extra content to those who want it on the Fridays when I can't update.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Ba Sing Se</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 32: Ba Sing Se</p><p>As they approached the great Earth Kingdom capital, Aang couldn't help musing about how different he felt from the last time he'd come to the city a year earlier. Just the fact that they were flying in, rather than venturing across the treacherous Serpent's Pass was a change worth celebrating.</p><p>"I think we're going to have a much better time in Ba Sing Se this year." The airbender called back to Katara and Sokka as they flew into the city. "No giant drills. No searching for Appa."</p><p>"We won't have to sneak into the fancy balls at the palace. This time we'll be honored guests!" Katara put in.</p><p>"No conspiracy to uncover." Sokka chimed in. "No need to fight for an audience with the Earth King. In fact, we might have to fight to get out of endless meetings with him!"</p><p>Their first day in the city was spent settling back into the house they'd lived in during their first visit—it had been completely repaired—and waiting for Toph, the Beifongs, Zuko, and Mai to arrive before the official welcome ceremonies. An adjoining stable had been repurposed for Appa's comfort, but it wasn't quite right, according to Aang. Being back in the city reminded him of how terrible it had felt to be without his animal companion, which made him want to show Appa how much he was appreciated with the best food and accommodations. He ordered some last-minute renovations to the stable, as well as higher-quality straw and feed.</p><p>The following evening, Aang and his friends stood on a balcony overlooking a huge crowd chanting "AV-A-TAR" again and again. Though all ages and types were represented in the square below, there were a disproportionate number of teenage girls, some of them wearing shirts depicting Aang's face.</p><p>Katara glanced over at her boyfriend and caught a slow, overwhelmed half-grin on his face, similar to a look she'd inspired in him a couple of times. His expression of modest disbelief and dawning pride seemed to say, 'This is for me?'</p><p>She had always felt confident of her looks, always had a few admirers of her own, but never like this. These Avatar fangirls here were organized; their shirts matched, and they had practiced chants and songs. She couldn't help feeling intimidated. It made her want to undercut and belittle the other girls.</p><p>"They're only interested in him because he's a famous hero." She declared dismissively. "All they care about is the Avatar, not Aang himself."</p><p>"And that makes them different from you how?" Sokka asked her pointedly. Katara's jaw dropped at her brother. "I distinctly remember how you kept this guy stuck in the friend zone until after he saved the world."</p><p>"That wasn't why…..I always…I just couldn't think about that until…." She sputtered, trying to justify herself, dismayed that her actions toward her best friend could be interpreted as so shallow.</p><p>Aang took her hand and chimed in. "What makes her different is that with us it goes both ways. I'm her number one fan too."</p><p>As usual, he said exactly the right thing to make it all better. Katara breathed a sigh of relief and beamed at her boyfriend. He returned her smile, and then looked back out at the crowd.</p><p>"I'm sure they're nice people. Interesting, even." Aang defended his fans. He was always open to meeting new people. His curious and outgoing nature meant that he couldn't help being intrigued by anyone who paid him a bit of attention. "You have to admit, they have good taste." He joked.</p><p>Katara's heart sank again. It's going straight to his head, she thought. How could she ever compete with so many? Every quality she possessed, one of them was bound to have more. They would show him unquestioning, sycophantic adoration, while she would always be the older girl who had scolded his immature antics and corrected his waterbending mistakes. She thought again of what he had said about his people at the Southern Air Temple, how their affections were transitory and fleeting. Would any one girl be enough for him? Would he want to be free to get to know some of his fans? Maybe he'd never considered himself bound, the way she did.</p><p>King Keui, along with Fire Lord Zuko and his girlfriend Mai, joined them on the balcony, triggering still louder cheers.</p><p>Mai surveyed the crowd and whispered darkly to Katara, "Welcome to my world."</p><p>Zuko gestured to the assembly below. "This is about what it's like for me at home. It's a break not to be the focus for once."</p><p>Sokka looked at Zuko in surprise. "How come both of you guys have a fan club, but I don't?" He crossed his arms indignantly. "I'm a war hero too. And I am by far the best-looking of the three of us."</p><p>Aang looked at Zuko and admitted, "He's got a point."</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes. "You just think that because he's the boy version of your girlfriend."</p><p>Aang laughed. "You've got a point too."</p><p>"Trust me, Sokka, you don't really want the complications that mess brings into your love life." The young Fire Lord advised his friend.</p><p>Sokka sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I've done a good enough job of screwing that up by myself."</p><p>They turned away from the balcony and went into the room that had been prepared for their small, intimate gathering of three or four dozen of the most important Earth Kingdom officials, along with Zuko's entourage, Team Avatar, and the Beifongs.</p><p>When Zuko had visited the city months before, soon after his coronation, he and King Keui had only agreed to a cease-fire. Though the violence and hostilities had been over for a while, the terms of the peace had not yet been settled. The talks would begin with a formal peace treaty, similar to the one Zuko had signed in the North. Again, the Avatar would be present as an auspicious witness. Then the two monarchs would discuss founding embassies and making trade agreements, in the hopes that beginning with simple, easy wins would make it easier to move on to the issue that would really be a challenge for them to untangle—the colonies.</p><p>But tonight was just a welcome dinner, a preliminary event to make the representatives of formerly hostile countries feel comfortable talking civilly around a table.</p><p>As she made her way into the dining room, Katara noticed a familiar face. "Joo Dee? Or, um, is that your real name? Do you remember me?"</p><p>"Hello, Katara." The woman greeted her brightly. Her smile, though still incessant, looked a little less forced and eerie now. "Joo Dee is my former position. My name is Ru Bea."</p><p>"Um, what are you doing, now that the Dai Li are gone?" The waterbender wondered.</p><p>"I was recently released from a rehabilitation facility where some of the other residents of Lake Laogai have been recovering from the lingering effects of the Dai Li's…..techniques. Now I have the job I always wanted. I am a tour guide, showing the honored guests of the Earth King around the city. Would you and your friends like a tour?"</p><p>"Um, no thank you. I think we know our way around the city now. I'm…..glad you're better." Katara couldn't help it: she still found the woman a bit unsettling.</p><p>She walked over to the side table where the tea things were set out, hoping for a hot cup to help her calm down. There she found Iroh, who greeted her with a hug. She sank into his arms, grateful for his soothing presence. He handed her a cup of his best jasmine.</p><p>"Well, Katara. What will you do while you are here in Ba Sing Se?" The old man asked. "Will you be attending these diplomatic meetings with your friends?"</p><p>"No, I don't think so." She replied modestly. "That's not really my scene. Sokka will represent the Tribe instead. He's more into politics than I am."</p><p>"Surely a young woman as talented and energetic as you would not sit idly." Iroh admonished her.</p><p>The warmth in the old man's eyes made her want to confide in him. "Well, when I was in the North, I got to study with the healers and practice at the hospital. I'd like to keep learning about healing and…..using my talent."</p><p>"A very worthy intention!" Iroh commended her. "I know the man who is the head of the medical school at Ba Sing Se University. He comes to my tea shop every morning. Perhaps if you happen to come by, I may give him the honor of your introduction?"</p><p>"Yes, that would be wonderful! Thank you!" She exclaimed.</p><p>Zuko joined them. "Do you need help, uncle?"</p><p>"Oh, no, Fire Lord Zuko, you are an honored guest here, and I am the lowly caterer. Take a seat." Iroh gestured to the table, where people were beginning to gather.</p><p>Zuko sat down between Aang and a general. His uncle looked so fulfilled, focusing his attention on such an insignificant thing: the precise measurement of the ingredients for a special blend of tea. He remembered being content in that same way, focused on the small satisfactions of providing refreshment to appreciative patrons. It had lasted about a week, before Azula had come back into his life and stolen his peace. Again, he regretted turning away from the simple, honorable life his uncle had offered him, in favor of a return to a home without warmth, and the empty promise of his father's elusive approval. Had it been ambition? Snobbery? A royal teenager's grandiose refusal to settle for anything less than the powerful position he felt entitled to? Zuko ate quietly, lost in his thoughts, only paying half his attention to the chit chat around him.</p><p>When dinner was over and Zuko lingered on the fringes of a circle of men discussing the various entertainment options available in the city, he felt a soft touch on his elbow. His uncle was pulling him aside. "You seem thoughtful, nephew," Iroh said.</p><p>"I've been remembering how things were when we worked together in the tea shop. I was so wrong to choose ambition and glory over honest work with a faithful companion."</p><p>"Was it ambition? I thought it was your destiny?" Iroh's eyes twinkled at him as if he were making fun of him, in his gentle way.</p><p>"It was my destiny to betray you?" The idea of fate troubled Zuko sometimes, because it meant that both the war and the peace had been foreordained, and he didn't think that any truly good spirit, powerful enough to influence matters, could have chosen to allow certain events to occur, regardless of the positive long-term outcomes. And what was the role of choice, if everything was fated? If his wrong decisions had been out of his hands, didn't that just let him off the hook? Surely that wasn't justice.</p><p>"Destiny is a funny thing." The old man wagged a finger at him. "When it finally comes around, it often looks very different from the way you had expected it to look. And ambition makes a fool of one even more easily."</p><p>"You were ambitious once, weren't you? The Dragon of the West?" The corner of Zuko's mouth pulled up. He liked thinking of his uncle that way: young and fierce, a respected commander of men. However, that meant ignoring the people his military exploits had harmed, which neither of them felt comfortable doing anymore.</p><p>"Oh, yes. I was full of the fire of my own greatness. It cost me my son. I abandoned my ambition then. But destiny was not yet though with me."</p><p>Zuko thought of how he and his uncle had both accomplished the goals they had pursued for years, but only after they had given up on their original objectives. Iroh had seized control of Ba Sing Se from his own countrymen, and his nephew had brought the Avatar back to the Fire Nation, as a friend and ally rather than as prisoner. "You said I was meant to become Fire Lord. And I have." He gestured to the crown in his topknot. "But….what now?"</p><p>"Your experiences have made you ready for what your reign as Fire Lord will require of you."</p><p>"And what's that?"</p><p>"Humility. Making friends with former enemies. Taking responsibility for the sins of your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Righting wrongs. Apologizing."</p><p>Zuko shook his head, a wry half smile on his face. "No wonder I feel nostalgic for the tea shop."</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>In the morning, Katara presented herself to Iroh at the tea shop. He led her to a table where a middle-aged man in fine robes sat, reading the newspaper with his morning tea.</p><p>"Doctor Hui, I would like to introduce you to Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, a waterbender and expert healer. You may have heard that she saved the life of my nephew, Fire Lord Zuko." The old man's voice swelled with pride when he said the title. The doctor invited them to join him at his table with a gesture.</p><p>"Iroh told me about your medical school, Doctor Hui." Katara began, making a case for herself. "I have a lot of practical experience as a healer, but I don't yet know much about the body and how it works, or about cures for illnesses. But I want to get better and learn everything I can. When I was in the North last month, I worked under Master Yugoda in the hospital. She said I'm an instinctive healer, but I still don't have much formal training. I'd really appreciate the opportunity to continue to improve my knowledge and skills."</p><p>"Here in the Earth Kingdom, we don't have any bending to help us cure sickness or injuries." Hui warned her solemnly. "We have only science, observation, and the knowledge we have accumulated over decades of research."</p><p>"That's exactly what I would like to learn!" Katara nodded eagerly. "If I can combine my waterbending healing with a strong knowledge of everything that Earth Kingdom doctors and scientists have discovered, I think I'd really be able to help a lot of people."</p><p>It was an ambitious goal. One the doctor had thought of himself, but he'd never known any waterbending healers well enough to suggest such a thing. The northern waterbenders usually kept to themselves, reserving their knowledge and skill for their own people. "What kind of experience do you have?" he inquired.</p><p>"Broken bones, lacerations, burns from fire and lightning." The girl listed in a matter-of-fact way. "I've been more of a battle medic than a doctor. I dealt almost exclusively with injuries, and never an illness more serious than a cold. Although I have delivered babies."</p><p>Doctor Hui was impressed. Few of his beginning medical students had such a strong background. He'd be a fool not to jump at the opportunity to get this girl in his school, no matter how young she was. "You may sit in on the first or second year medical students' classes during your stay in the city. I'll give you the class schedule and write letters of introduction for you to give the instructors."</p><p>"Thank you! That would be wonderful! Would I also be able to volunteer in a hospital? Or a midwife clinic, or something like that?"</p><p>"The hospitals and clinics are almost always shortstaffed, so I'm sure they would be happy to have you. And if their budgets allow, they will pay you for your time, too. We don't see waterbending healers here often." He suggested several places she might try to volunteer, and offered more letters of introduction. "I must thank you for your willingness to use your skills to help the people of this city. As you will see, there is a great need here."</p><p>"Well, I have to thank Iroh for introducing me to you," Katara said modestly.</p><p>"I am only too happy to bring people together over tea." Iroh nodded and smiled. "This is the way of healing, is it not? The two of you heal bodies, and I heal communities, with the fellowship created by a hot kettle of jasmine or ginseng."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! Subscribe for email updates; I post new chapters on Fridays</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Planning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 33: Planning</p><p>Sokka had come to some realizations since leaving the North Pole. When he tried prodding that place in his heart where Yue had resided, he found it didn't ache anymore in that way he used to find almost pleasant. Her loss had been an unbandaged wound he'd kept picking, so that it couldn't mend, but bled again and again. Now it was healed and scarred over. He no longer wondered obsessively about what could have been; he found that the question didn't interest him anymore.</p><p>In fact, Yue herself didn't interest him anymore. He thought back on the princess now, the way she'd been as a girl, and just felt…..bored. She had been pretty and nice and sweet, but the most compelling thing about her was her choice to sacrifice herself, which had simultaneously put her out of reach forever. In fact, maybe her unavailability had always been part of her appeal. Sokka wondered if he had pursued her exactly because of the drama caused by her engagement. In that unjust obstacle to romantic fulfillment, he had seen a little quest or problem for him to solve, a challenge that was otherwise not there in the girl herself, maybe not even justified by her worth as a prize. That he'd thought of her that way at all should have been a sign to him that the relationship was unhealthy, but he'd been a perverse teenager not ready for real love, and so he'd chosen and clung to a girl he could never have.</p><p>He felt a little bad entertaining such ideas about Yue; she had been so kind to come talk to him in the spirit oasis, and she had been so selfless as to give her life for her people. But maybe this was what it was like to think about an ex, instead of a girl you still wanted. Now he knew all of the reasons he and Yue would never have worked, why it was wrong from the beginning, and these weren't exactly regrets, but lessons learned, with no hard feelings. It wasn't that anything had been wrong with her, just that she was a bad fit for who he was now, even if she had still been a human girl instead of a celestial body.</p><p>In the North, he'd come to understand that he had changed. He'd had plenty of time to himself while his friends did other things, time to wander the walks by the canals in the city and hunt on his own in the cold. He'd thought about Yue and talked about her with others who had known her, and found that the more he heard about her, the less fascinating her memory became to him. He'd listened to Arnook and others tell stories about her, and their stories, while sentimentalized because of the loss, were downright dull. He hadn't known her that well, and it seemed that his imagination had filled in the gaps since he'd lost her, turning her into someone that she had probably never been. He had to accept that the things he had liked the most about her had been inventions of his own. She was frozen, forever sixteen, and he was a man now…Even when they'd been together, she'd never pushed him, never challenged him, never done anything to help him to become better than he was. Now that he knew what that kind of relationship felt like, he could never settle for anything less.</p><p>If he didn't want Yue anymore, what did he want? He tried to think about that question in the abstract, but every time he did, his answer just sounded like another description of Suki. He wondered if he was chasing someone unavailable yet again, but remembered Zuko's reassurance: she had waited for him once before. She couldn't be completely unobtainable if he'd had her in the past. He repeated to himself again, the thing she'd said on Kyoshi Island that had broken his heart, but still gave him hope: "I want you, but I want all of you." Well, that was exactly what he wanted to give her. He knew he had to try.</p><p>As the tour dragged on, he felt increasingly frustrated and impatient, especially with his sister and friend, who were always all over each other, making him feel extra lonely. However, once he'd found peace and let go of Yue for good, the bitterness he had felt when they had first left Kyoshi Island had disappeared. It had been replaced by resolve, the kind of determination that usually put him into planning mode.</p><p>_________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Katara came upon Sokka studying a map on the table in their house.</p><p>"A map of the Earth Kingdom?" She asked, confused. "I thought we were going to the Fire Nation next."</p><p>"You are." Sokka replied. "You and Aang are anyway. I'm thinking I might split off and go my own way when you all leave here."</p><p>"Where would you go?" Katara thought she could guess, but didn't want to presume in case she was wrong and hurt him.</p><p>"Kyoshi Island. I'd ask you all to drop me off, but it's completely in the opposite direction from the Fire Nation." He pointed to the map. "I can take one of the new trains from Ba Sing Se to Chin Village, then take a ferry to the island. Or follow the carriage road to the East Bay and take a boat from there. I need to ask around to find out which way is faster."</p><p>"You want to see Suki?"</p><p>"It's been long enough." He said firmly.</p><p>"You don't think she's coming here for the festival?"</p><p>"I thought she was probably on the guest list anyway, but I invited her as my date, just in case King Keui forgot who took down the airships that were going to burn down his whole kingdom. And then in her letters—there have only been two, and I sent at least six-she didn't even mention it!" He threw up his hands in exasperation. "It was like she ignored that I asked! I tried drafting letters where I asked specifically for a response about the festival, but I ended up sounding demanding, or whiny, or pathetic, or all three." He scraped his fingernails through his hair, messing it up.</p><p>"Did she say she's started dating someone?" Katara asked delicately.</p><p>"No. We never talk about that in our letters. Not that I'd have much to say." He shrugged, unconcerned about his supposed lack of romantic prospects.</p><p>"What about Eskina?"</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>"The girl in the North with the low cut dress? She dyed her hair yellow?"</p><p>"She was into me?" Sokka made a face. "She looked weird."</p><p>"She was Princess Yue's cousin."</p><p>He blinked, taken aback. "I guess she was."</p><p>Katara was surprised that the girl throwing herself at her brother hadn't even registered with him. Maybe he really was blinded by love. "Anyway, I'm sure Aang and Toph wouldn't mind a quick flight to Kyoshi Island-"</p><p>"It's not a quick flight."</p><p>"Still, I know we'll have time to take you there on Appa. There's no pressing engagement in the Fire Nation, nothing we can't miss that's going to happen on the first couple days after we were planning to arrive." Katara was also thinking to herself, that she wanted to be there for Sokka in case his planned romantic gesture went awry, if Suki had started a new relationship, or just didn't want him anymore. The thought was a little upsetting. She'd thought of Suki as a sister, so the idea of her choosing another guy felt almost like a betrayal of her as well as of Sokka, though she knew they had agreed not to be committed to each other while apart. Katara contemplated fighting Suki, and thought she would win. Unless Sokka or Aang decided to try to stop her, or the other Kyoshi Warriors jumped into the fray, that is. But then maybe Toph would join her…. It was an interesting possibility.</p><p>Her brother smiled gratefully and put one arm around her shoulders for a quick squeeze. Maybe he understood that he would need their support. "Thanks, sis."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: I know this was a short chapter, but next week will be a real treat. The Spring Festival Ball, which means: Sukka reunion! I'm so excited to share this chapter with you! Be sure that you're subscribed to get an email when I post it. And please leave me a review on this one too!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's note: No lemon in this chapter, sorry if you feel that's a tease.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 34: The Spring Festival Ball</p>
<p>Sokka went right to the buffet at the Spring Festival Ball, grabbing two sticks laden with meat. He tasted one and closed his eyes in delight. "You've got to have some of this," he told Zuko. He was wearing his formal uniform from the Water Tribe Navy, with epaulet decorations noting his rank as captain, and his medal from the Earth King on his chest. Zuko wore his crown in his topknot, as well as his regal robes with the pointy shoulders.</p>
<p>The two wandered around the edge of the party, munching hors d'oeuvres, watching the people in their fancy clothes, and chatting about the colony talks, when suddenly Zuko noticed that Sokka had fallen down. He appeared to have walked into a pillar. Zuko bent down to help him up. The boy was staring transfixed from his spot sprawled on the floor, his eyes focused on something on the other side of the hall.</p>
<p>"Suki!"</p>
<p>Zuko followed his eyes and saw a group of girls in matching green dresses. Their costumes seemed like dressed-up versions of the Kyoshi Warrior uniforms, made of shiny silk instead of rough wool, and without their padded armor. They didn't wear their white theatrical makeup either, but a more understated, elegant look. From this distance, he couldn't tell which one was Suki, but he was sure his friend had recognized the girl accurately.</p>
<p>"C'mon, get up." Zuko pulled on his friend's arm. "Are you ok?"</p>
<p>"Fine." Sokka rubbed absently at his head, where a knot already seemed to be forming. He was still looking steadily at the group of girls.</p>
<p>Zuko moved to block his view, so that he wouldn't get caught staring. "Do you have a plan?" He asked. "Do you know what you're going to say?"</p>
<p>"Kind of. I mean, I've thought about it a lot. Like, every hour of every day. But what if it's not good enough? What if I'm not good enough? Look at her! She's perfect! It's like staring at the sun!"</p>
<p>Zuko had known Sokka was hopelessly in love, but thought his despondence, like all of his feelings, was a bit over the top. "Come with me." The firebender led his friend to the bar in one corner of the ballroom. "Sake, vodka, or whiskey?" He asked.</p>
<p>"Vodka."</p>
<p>Zuko ordered two shots of the finest vodka—his rank was clear and got him fast service, even at the crowded bar-and handed one to Sokka. Zuko couldn't help thinking of his own reunion with Mai. He hoped Suki would be as forgiving as his own girlfriend had been. She certainly had a lot less to forgive. He raised his glass. "To ex-girlfriends. May they always be as merciful as they are fierce."</p>
<p>Zuko could see the alcohol hit his friend's system. Instantly, he looked more relaxed.</p>
<p>"Oh, that is better." Sokka remarked. "I need another." He started to raise his hand to get the bartender's attention.</p>
<p>"No, you don't." Zuko lowered his arm for him and steered him away from the bar. "One shot gives you courage. Two will make you want a third, and three will make you flub your words. You don't want to flub your words, do you."</p>
<p>"No!" Sokka's blue eyes filled with anxiety again. "I'm going to mess it up again, aren't I?"</p>
<p>Instead of answering, Zuko turned him to face the other side of the room, where he could see the girls in green. He put his hands on Sokka's shoulders and spoke in his ear from behind. "You are good enough. She thought so once, and that hasn't changed. You've got history together, and she remembers it. You're over Yue and ready for her. You're going to tell her how you feel, and she's going to listen. If you don't seize this moment, you're going to regret it forever." He gave Sokka a little shove. "Now go redeem yourself."</p>
<p>________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara was discovering that accompanying the Avatar to public events was not as much fun as she'd anticipated. That afternoon, there had been a bit of a scene at the house, when she'd had to remind her boyfriend and brother four times to stop playing boomerang fetch with Momo and start getting dressed. And now, so many people demanded Aang's attention that he didn't have much to spare for her. She stood by his side dutifully as he talked to a bunch of Earth Kingdom generals and nobles, continuing a conversation from the colony meetings about the placement of borders. She followed as long as she could, but eventually lost what little interest she'd had in the talk going on around her. Finally she excused herself, whispering to Aang that she'd be back with some punch.</p>
<p>"Ugh!" Toph groaned, joining her near the bar. "My mom is following me everywhere, trying to introduce me to a bunch of old people. Chao and Chen are supposed to be here and I want to hang out with them, but I don't want my mom to see them."</p>
<p>"Why not?" Katara asked.</p>
<p>"She'll make it a whole big thing! She'll want to talk to their mom, and before you know it, they're planning a wedding."</p>
<p>"I thought your parents were over that?"</p>
<p>"She's given up on picking the guy herself, but not on marrying me off." Toph explained. "If I ever bring a boy around, she will do her damnedest to make sure we walk down the aisle. Especially if he happens to be a prince."</p>
<p>"Well, I certainly don't blame you for wanting to avoid that." Katara saw the two identical boys over Toph's shoulder. "I think the twins spotted you. They're behind you."</p>
<p>"Oh. Um, how do I look?"</p>
<p>Toph was wearing the jade gown they'd picked out in Gaoling. It didn't have a train, or trailing sleeves, or irritating embroidery, but the simple ribbon waistband made the girl's newly blossoming figure look very pretty. Her shiny black hair was piled on top of her head, giving her a little extra height. "Lovely, Toph." Katara patted her friend's arm affectionately.</p>
<p>Toph paused, as if a new idea had just occurred to her. "How do they look?" She wondered.</p>
<p>The two princes of Omashu were honestly, quite possibly the most unattractive boys Katara had ever seen, but they seemed sweet, and their letters had occasionally been funny. "Um, they look excited to see you." She answered brightly.</p>
<p>Toph grinned. "Of course they are."</p>
<p>Katara surveyed the room again. She found her friend's parents on the far side of the room. An escape route was open.</p>
<p>"Why don't you take them to the garden outside?" She suggested.</p>
<p>______________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Sokka walked straight through the dance floor toward the group of girls in green. Suki was facing away from him; he easily picked her out from among the identical green backs. Gathering his nerve, he tapped her on the shoulder.</p>
<p>She turned around and he saw her face up close for the first time in months. Her lips were bright red, and her eyes were striking, lined and colored in a more subtle version of Kyoshi's opera-inspired streaks. He had wondered whether she could really be as lovely as he remembered. Perhaps his memories had been gilded by nostalgia. But the reality of her was even better than his dreams. No costume or paint could have kept him from recognizing her now.</p>
<p>Suki narrowed her eyes at him. "Do I know you?"</p>
<p>His insides turned to ice. Of all the reactions he'd anticipated—anger, joy, ambivalence, annoyance-he had never imagined that she might have completely forgotten him, or that she would pretend to, so cruelly. He was sure his devastation showed on his face but couldn't quite gather himself to rearrange his expression.</p>
<p>She elbowed the girl next to her. "I've met his type before. He thinks he's hilarious, but he can't take a joke." Then her voice warmed and her smile shone on him as brightly as ever. "It's good to see you, Sokka." She opened her arms to him and hugged him like an old friend.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes and relaxed into her, savoring her touch, her scent. Of course she knew him. It was just a dumb prank. Her wisecracks usually did fall flat. It didn't matter. He was holding Suki again, and she was squeezing him back, with those surprisingly strong arms of hers. He could have stayed like that forever. But he was afraid of being too clingy, especially with the other girls watching them. All too soon, she pulled away and held him at arms' length, surveying him.</p>
<p>"You're so beautiful." The words fell out of his mouth as if he had no control over it. He was staring at her intently and barely breathing. It probably looked creepy. He shook himself and tried to act normal.</p>
<p>Suki's lips curved up in pleasure and she flirted back. "Look at you in your dress whites. Been working out?"</p>
<p>Ty Lee hooked her arms around two of the other girls' elbows and turned them away from the couple. "We'll let you two talk." The others followed, tittering behind their fans.</p>
<p>They were alone, which was a relief, but it also meant Sokka no longer had an excuse to delay saying what he had to say.</p>
<p>"I…..didn't know if you were coming." He didn't know how to ask about her failure to answer his letters, her refusal to answer the question about whether she was coming to this festival or not.</p>
<p>"I thought I'd surprise you." Suki bounced on her toes in excitement.</p>
<p>"You sure did! I—uh—bumped my head on a pillar." He rubbed the spot. It was still tender.</p>
<p>She came close, placing her cool fingertips against the aching knot on his forehead. "That looks pretty bad. Should we go find Katara?"</p>
<p>"No, it's fine." Her proximity was doing things to his brain. "Can you walk?" He asked, dopily.</p>
<p>"Uh, yes, I can walk." Suki looked at him like an idiot, because he was acting like one.</p>
<p>"I mean, uh, would you like to go for a walk? With me? Um, in the garden?" He wanted to get her away from this crowded, loud party, to talk to her somewhere peaceful. They needed quiet and privacy for this conversation, and a pretty setting couldn't hurt.</p>
<p>"All right," she nodded and turned around, walking toward the garden. One whole side of the ballroom consisted of large windows over open doors that led to the king's garden, a meticulously landscaped area full of fountains, manicured trees, and shrubs cut in the shapes of animals.</p>
<p>He didn't know if he should take her hand or offer her his arm, or keep his distance. What was allowed, what was polite, and most importantly, what did she want? She led him through the crowd, going around the edge of the room instead of cutting through the dancing couples in the middle. Finally they stepped outside together into the garden, where fountains sparkled and flowers bloomed under a full moon.</p>
<p>_____________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara walked to the bar, where she found Zuko and Mai. She greeted her friends with hugs. Ty Lee soon joined them.</p>
<p>"Your brother is the biggest sap!" Ty Lee exclaimed to Katara. "He comes right up to Suki and the first thing out of his mouth is 'You're so beautiful.'" She sighed. "But I've got to give it to him, that boy can wear a uniform." She nudged Mai, as if asking her to share her appreciation, but the taller girl just rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>"Do you think she'll take him back?" Katara asked Ty Lee hopefully.</p>
<p>"I think she wants to, but unless he says the right things, she won't."</p>
<p>Katara sighed, resigning herself to nursing her brother's broken heart again.</p>
<p>"If she doesn't want him," Ty Lee went on, "I'd be glad to cheer him up. What a cutie!"</p>
<p>"If she doesn't take him back, she'll have to explain herself to me," Katara said, almost ominously.</p>
<p>"And me," Zuko added, his tone equally dark. The others looked at him in surprise, so that he felt compelled to explain himself. "I mean, they're perfect for each other!" The young Fire Lord declared. "That was, without a doubt, the stupidest break up I ever heard of."</p>
<p>"Second stupidest." Mai put in, looking sidelong at her boyfriend, who blushed.</p>
<p>"You don't have any other brothers?" Ty Lee asked Katara.</p>
<p>She shook her head.</p>
<p>"Cousins?"</p>
<p>"No, sorry."</p>
<p>The acrobat pouted in disappointment.</p>
<p>Katara held up crossed fingers. "Let's keep hoping. I don't know if I can take any more sad, rejected Sokka. I miss seeing my brother happy." She picked up two glasses of punch from the bar. "I told Aang I'd bring him this. He's stuck with the politicians again. Have a fun night, guys!"</p>
<p>As she walked across the ballroom toward her boyfriend, Katara saw a young couple dressed in green sitting closely together in an alcove and smiled. When she caught sight of the group of older gentlemen where she'd left Aang, she noticed that the scene had changed. Now the airbender stood off to the side of the circle of distinguished men, talking with a teenage girl. She had a voluptuous silhouette, and wore a dress that bared the pale skin of her shoulders.</p>
<p>Katara's stomach dropped and hovered somewhere around her knees. She remembered the snobby girls who had taunted her and Toph on their way home from the spa, the way they'd made her feel like an unsophisticated bumpkin playing dress up. This young woman had the same upper class refinement, the light skin prized by Earth Kingdom nobles, a figure that proved she'd never gone hungry. She was gazing at Aang with that witless adoration that men seemed to find intoxicating and irresistible. No way she would keep the Avatar in the friend zone for a year. A girl like that would always be perfectly serviceable and agreeable, would never fuss at or lecture her boyfriend, the way Katara had, just a few hours earlier.</p>
<p>Again, the waterbender wondered if this would have been a normal thing at the Air Temples, for relationships to be fluid and open, for new partners to rush in and out with the breeze. She'd thought Aang wanted what she did, but their upbringings had been so different she couldn't be sure, and they'd never really talked about it.</p>
<p>Something masochistic in her made Katara want to stay where she was and watch what might unfold.</p>
<p>_____________________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Sokka and Suki wandered through the garden paths, moonlight shining down on them. Silence stretched between them as Sokka racked his brain for something witty to say. Finally, he decided he was incapable of small talk tonight, and addressed the main question in the most oblique way he could manage, which was not very subtle at all.</p>
<p>"So, did you come alone?"</p>
<p>"Tonight? I came with my warrior sisters." She answered coyly, as if she knew exactly what he wanted to know and wasn't going to make it easy for him.</p>
<p>"You haven't….met anyone?" He braced himself.</p>
<p>"Well, this brilliant inventor came to town, but he couldn't fight. Next, I met an expert martial artist, but he couldn't make me laugh. And then there was the funny guy who was kind of ugly, to be honest. Ling set me up with an incredibly handsome man who turned out to be a straight up asshole. There was another one who was sweet, and decent with a bow and arrow, but dumb as a rock. And then my mom really wanted me to go out with this rich guy, but that was about all he had going for him."</p>
<p>"So, uh, you've been busy," Sokka tried to keep his voice neutral, aware that he had no right to be jealous. He didn't feel anger, he felt grief, as if his time with her had been cheapened, though he knew that wasn't fair. Still, he was sure he could disregard anything that might have happened in the last few months, if only he could share her future.</p>
<p>"None of them got past a first date." She assured him. "The whole time I kept thinking about my ex, who was smart and brave and funny and good-looking...not rich, but I don't care about that, even if my mom does."</p>
<p>A sense of déjà vu gave him hope. "You mean me?"</p>
<p>"Of course I mean you, stupid!" She gave him a playful nudge.</p>
<p>"Oh, thank goodness!"</p>
<p>Sokka started to lean in for a kiss, and she did too, but then she turned her cheek at the last second, almost teasing.</p>
<p>"What about you? Did you meet anyone on the road?" She asked, fluttering her lashes at him.</p>
<p>He took a breath to recover from nearly kissing her, then tried to imitate her dispassionate tone. "Well, one of Bumi's great-granddaughters wrote me a letter, but I didn't remember which one she was, so I never wrote back. Apparently there was a girl in the North who tried to flirt with me, but I didn't even notice. Katara had to tell me about it later. Turned out she was Princess Yue's cousin. And, um, Toph..."</p>
<p>"Ah, I wondered if she'd make a move." Suki nodded with a knowing half smile.</p>
<p>"You knew she had a crush on me?"</p>
<p>"She only tried to kiss you and got me instead."</p>
<p>"Wow. When was that?"</p>
<p>"Serpent's Pass. In the water."</p>
<p>"So that's why she was so bitter about learning to swim. Anyway, I turned her down. She's just too young. She asked if I'd take her out on a date in five years if we're both single, and I said ok. I'm hoping you'll get me out of that." Sokka thought it best to confess the promise he'd made to his younger friend, but worried that it might bother Suki. With her chaotic energy and flattering crush, Toph had more potential to actively create problems for the couple than a distant, peaceful spirit like Yue had ever had. But maybe that was the difference: attacks on their partnership from outside were easily dismissed, while internal threats were much more insidious.</p>
<p>"Nice way to let her down easy, I guess." Suki shrugged, easing his anxiety again. She seemed to understand: he'd only agreed to the conditional date as a way to make Toph feel better in that moment, not as a backup plan for the distant future.</p>
<p>"I might have gotten over the age thing eventually, except that I'm not over you." His eyes sought hers steadily; they met for just long enough for his intensity to pierce her. She looked away and started walking again. After a beat, he followed, catching up to her side.</p>
<p>Still looking forward, she asked, faking nonchalance, "How was your visit to the North?"</p>
<p>"It was good." He imitated her tone, and spoke conversationally about his trip. "We stayed at Pakku's house. I guess it's Gran-Gran's too, now. I took Zuko ice-fishing. And I got to talk to Yue." He slipped the bombshell in casually, as if his ethereal spirit of an ex-girlfriend were just another vaguely interesting person he'd encountered on his travels.</p>
<p>Suki stopped walking and turned to him in surprise. "Do you mean she actually talked back?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. She appeared right there in the sky above the koi pond, and spoke to me."</p>
<p>"What did she say?"</p>
<p>"Yue gave us her blessing. She said, I wish you happiness with the woman you love."</p>
<p>"So it won't matter if the moon sees us kiss?" She challenged him, gesturing at the sky.</p>
<p>"Not at all." Despite the skepticism in her voice, Sokka couldn't help feeling increasingly optimistic at the mere suggestion of kissing.</p>
<p>"So you don't love her anymore?" Suki verified.</p>
<p>He shook his head. "She's not a person anymore. You could ask, do I love the moon? And I'd say, sure, just like I love the ocean and the trees and all of nature. It's not a personal love. I have moved on."</p>
<p>"But you still love her memory?" She pressed.</p>
<p>Now that he had Suki in the flesh in front of him, the idea of preferring Yue practically made him roll his eyes. Sokka took a deep breath and got ready to try to explain the way he understood his feelings now. "I guess the sixteen year old boy that I was still loves the girl that she was, and he's inside me somewhere, but I'm not that guy anymore, and I didn't realize that until I saw her again. Now I'm almost eighteen, and I'm a battle-tested soldier and leader, and a sweet, simple girl like Yue was isn't enough for me." He stood in front of her, his hands just above her elbows. "I need a strong woman who will grow and change with me, a fellow warrior who will push me to be my best, not a boy's static fantasy of an ice princess."</p>
<p>She swallowed, and he thought he felt her tremble a little. Her eyes suddenly looked very wide and vulnerable. "What changed?" She whispered.</p>
<p>"I got to say goodbye and let her go. Really let her go this time." As if modeling what had happened within him, he dropped his hands from her arms. It seemed to make her take a small step closer.</p>
<p>"What does that mean?"</p>
<p>"It means thinking about her doesn't hurt anymore. It means that now there isn't any room in my heart for her; I made space for you. I'm sorry I had to go off without you to do that. I know I hurt you and it tears me up. I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you before, and that I wasn't ready to give you what you deserve." Sokka looked down, trying to get all of his apologies out of the way at once. "And I'm sorry if my letters were too long. They were probably boring. I just can't help going on and on. And it's ok that you didn't write back as much. It's fine that you were b-"</p>
<p>Suki silenced him with a kiss. It was short, not much more than a peck, but it sent a shock right through his whole body. She pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. "You talk too much." She whispered, her voice husky. Then she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him again, pulling him into their future.</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Toph and the twins found the king's garden to be a place full of excellent opportunities for pranks. First, she made a girl trip and stumble, so her date had to catch her. They both seemed to appreciate that. Then there was a drunk guy throwing up in the fountain, so Toph bent down the edge of the pool to give him a bath, then rolled him onto his side when he passed out. Next, the three of them played around putting walls in random places in the hedge maze, so that it became more of a prison. They trapped a few girls in there, then guided them out. On their way back into the party, the clueless girls kept congratulating themselves on how smart they were for figuring out the maze.</p>
<p>The three collapsed on a stone bench, cracking up, the princes on either side of the metalbender. When their laughter died down, Chao said something surprising.</p>
<p>"We wondered if we could kiss you."</p>
<p>"Uh, we?" Toph repeated, incredulous.</p>
<p>"Not at the same time, of course." Chen clarified. "We'd take turns."</p>
<p>"Unless you prefer me. It won't hurt his feelings." Chao joked, presuming he would be chosen over his brother.</p>
<p>"Or his if you pick me." Chen put in hopefully.</p>
<p>Toph was taken aback. The idea of two guys taking turns with her was beyond gross. But she also had to admit that she kind of thought of the twins as a single person most of the time, and that if only one of them had been here, and made the request in first person singular, she'd have said yes without hesitation. Either of them. She had no idea which she preferred, and maybe this was a way to figure that out. She couldn't deny it: she was curious. What would it be like to kiss a guy who wanted to kiss her? Not to grope and fumble for his lips but to have them offered to her? She didn't think it would have gone differently with Sokka if she'd known how to kiss, but she wouldn't have felt so anxious about it, so worried she would embarrass herself, if she'd been more confident in her skill. She wanted experience, and this seemed like a harmless enough way to get some. Two partners meant twice the training, right? They were offering, after all, so it seemed they wouldn't mind if she practiced on them.</p>
<p>"Ok." She shrugged, nonchalant and daring. "I don't want to pick yet, so we can take turns. But what would the other do, just sit and watch?"</p>
<p>"If you'll let us."</p>
<p>That confirmed her suspicion: sighted people do enjoy watching others kiss. That didn't make any sense to her; when she'd sensed romantic stuff going on around her, she didn't find it a bit of a turn on. But then, sighted people were often weird.</p>
<p>"I don't think so." She decided she could live with going back and forth between kissing the two of them, but not with each of them getting an extra kick out of watching her with the other. "All right, so who first?"</p>
<p>"Me," Chao said, as if they had already decided between the two of them beforehand.</p>
<p>"Ok. Chen, go stand over there on the other side of that bush, and remember I can tell if you turn around."</p>
<p>She turned toward the twin on her right and lifted her chin. He dropped a series of gentle pecks on her lips, without touching her anywhere else. It felt nice, and there was something sweet in the gesture, but she also found it a little frustrating the way he kept pulling away, losing contact. She was about to grab his shoulders and make him stay put, when the other twin called, "Time!"</p>
<p>"You two are keeping time?" She asked.</p>
<p>"It's the only way to keep it fair," he explained.</p>
<p>Fair for you, she thought.</p>
<p>Chen took his brother's place and started kissing her the exact same way, as if time had rewound. She put her hand on his upper arm and kissed him back more firmly, so that she could feel his lips give under hers. He increased pressure and firmness, and touched her arm too, mirroring, as if he'd needed her touch first for permission. Again, time was called before she could really get into it.</p>
<p>Chao came back from the other side of the bush. "We'd really like to keep going, if that's ok with you."</p>
<p>"Another round? Sure."</p>
<p>The twins switched. Toph and Chao started kissing again, and it was as if he were picking up just where Chen had left off. She wondered if they had communicated with a gesture in between. They seemed to have planned every detail. Was that his tongue? She darted hers out too, and tasted his top lip. Using the tongue, even just on the outside, seemed to add another dimension to it, taste as well as touch. It also made it more wet, so that when they stopped, she felt like she wanted to wipe off her mouth, but it seemed like it would be rude.</p>
<p>The boys traded spots again. Chen turned his head to the side, and she started to turn the same way too, but then his fingertips were on her temple, softly pushing her in the other direction. He seemed to have an idea of something he'd like to try, so she decided to let him guide her. She felt the middle of his mouth line up with the corners of hers, to allow maximum area for their tongues to move around inside. Oh. This was an interesting technique. A lot of space to explore, a whole arena for tongues to do battle. It felt kind of cool, but there was a lot of saliva involved. Were they going to call time?</p>
<p>When Chao came back, he told her, "Your friend who came to Omashu is over there with a girl. One of the Kyoshi Warriors, I think."</p>
<p>"I saw him too." Chen said. "They're still kissing?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. What was his name? Sukka?"</p>
<p>"Sokka." Toph corrected him.</p>
<p>"That was it. Man, those two just keep going! It's like he's trying to drown himself in her spit."</p>
<p>"Are you up for another round?" Chao asked Toph, touching her hand shyly.</p>
<p>"Uh, no thanks, guys. I'm done."</p>
<p>It wasn't because it bothered her to hear about Sokka and Suki getting back together. She'd expected that. She felt glad to hear it, even. Suki was a tough fighter who'd saved Toph's life twice. If Sokka had to pick another girl, at least it was one who could kick his ass when he needed it. If Suki hadn't taken her ex back, it might have jeopardized the progress Toph thought she'd made in shaking off her crush. No, it was better this way.</p>
<p>But hearing about her friends' endless kiss was a reminder of real love and what that would be like. This wasn't it, and four kisses had been plenty to let her know that. These two really seemed to like her, and it wasn't right to use them as practice, as pleasant as it was, and as much as they both seemed to be enjoying it. She still couldn't tell them apart by their kisses, which were nearly as identical as their voices. That meant she couldn't pick one of them over the other, since she didn't want to hurt either twin without a real reason. The only fair thing for her to do was to turn them both down.</p>
<p>"Oh." She could hear the disappointment in Chen's voice. "Did we do something wrong?"</p>
<p>"No, the kisses were really nice, and I'm glad we did this, but I think we should just be friends. I don't want to come between the two of you."</p>
<p>"You wouldn't!" Chao insisted. "We agreed, no hard feelings either way!"</p>
<p>If they wouldn't take that line, then she'd have to be her usual blunt self. "Well, I'm just not interested anymore. Sorry."</p>
<p>"It's ok," they mumbled in chorus. It sounded like their voices were directed downward.</p>
<p>"And just some advice for the future, guys? Don't expect most girls to go along with taking turns."</p>
<p>"I told you that was a bad idea," Chao nudged his twin.</p>
<p>"Maybe you should try doing this separately." She suggested. "Each of you pick a different girl and go after her on your own."</p>
<p>"Well, um, part of the reason we picked you was because we're….not very good looking, and we figured you wouldn't mind that." Chen admitted.</p>
<p>"Because I'm blind?" She asked. Toph wondered if she should be mad at Katara for withholding that bit of info from her, but decided it wouldn't have made a difference because she didn't care.</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>"Well, you were right. I don't mind that. I'd like to reassure you that other girls won't either, but I really don't know if they will or not. Good luck, though."</p>
<p>"Do you know any other blind girls?" Chao asked hopefully.</p>
<p>"No. Sorry."</p>
<p>The twins were quiet for a moment, and then Chen asked her a question. "Can we give you some advice too?"</p>
<p>"Sure." That was half the point, she supposed. To get better at this for next time, when it would really count.</p>
<p>"Close your eyes while kissing. People who can see do that so they can focus on the feeling, and because seeing another person so close up-"</p>
<p>"And getting stared at so close-"</p>
<p>"-is weird. Of course, we know you're not really staring, but the effect is still disconcerting."</p>
<p>"Oh. Um, thanks for the feedback." Toph replied, grateful to have been spared the future embarrassment. "I guess I wouldn't have known."</p>
<p>"But besides that, it was great!" They assured her.</p>
<p>"Best first kiss ever!" She heard them high five each other. They were so lame. It was kind of sweet.</p>
<p>"You think that was my first kiss?" She asked, bemused at their assumption, and glad it was wrong.</p>
<p>"I meant for us."</p>
<p>"Oh. Um, should I be honored?"</p>
<p>"No, truly, we are the ones who are honored." The ground shifted minutely under their feet as they bowed to her.</p>
<p>"That's right. You should be." Toph smirked. "Want to go mess with the statues?" The three ran off to another part of the garden.</p>
<p>__________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Sokka was utterly lost in her lips, in her arms. He clutched Suki with grateful desperation, as if he were afraid she would disappear if he lost contact with her. How long had they been kissing, there in the Earth King's garden? Five solid minutes? Ten? Longer? It wasn't exactly private; any number of people might have walked by and seen them, and they wouldn't have even noticed. He'd imagined this moment so many times, but the reality of Suki surpassed his most vivid daydreams and memories. To the extent that he was capable of thought at all, he tried to pinpoint what had changed. But everything about her was familiar, in the best possible way. Which meant he was the one who was different. He was available now, in a way he hadn't been before. He was primed, he was open, he was offering and she was taking him up. He could feel that empty place in his heart filling, drop by drop. He might never have stopped kissing her, except Suki eventually pulled away to catch her breath.</p>
<p>That made Sokka gasp, thrown off balance by the sudden disconnection of their mouths. He felt so dizzy he might have fallen down, except for his hands on her shoulders, and hers on his waist, steadying him. Panting, he rested his forehead against hers. "I don't understand how I could ever have left you behind." He mused, once his mind cleared enough to speak.</p>
<p>"I don't know how I was able to let you go." Suki echoed, touching her lips wonderingly with her fingertips.</p>
<p>Sokka trailed his fingers down her arms and took her hands in his. "Yue said I was a fool for holding on to her. I have to say I agree."</p>
<p>"I feel foolish too." Suki admitted. "You'd done nothing to cause me to feel jealous. It was just my own insecurity."</p>
<p>He shrugged. He'd long since forgiven her any part she'd played in their breakup. "Everybody feels like that sometimes. If someone as amazing as you felt insecure, it must have been because I'd given you reason, even without meaning to. And I acknowledge I was holding something back. But not anymore."</p>
<p>"I should have realized she was never a threat to our relationship. It's not like you could ever cheat on me with a spirit, even if you wanted to, and I don't think you did. There's nothing wrong with reserving a part of your heart for someone you loved and lost."</p>
<p>"That's true, but that wasn't all I was doing." Sokka confessed. "I was nursing my feelings for Yue instead of letting them fade away, even after we were together. I was keeping something from you that should have been just yours. You were right not to let me do that, not to settle for sharing me. Now I'm determined you'll never have to." He let go of her hands, touching her lower back and bringing her into the circle of his arms, as he said the words he'd thought about and rehearsed. "I thought Yue was the girl of my dreams, but my dream has changed. Now it's you, Suki. You're a dream, and you're real. And there is nothing I want more than to be completely yours. No secrets, no reservations, no separations. I'm ready to give you everything you said you wanted."</p>
<p>"All of you?" They both recalled her words from that painful conversation on Kyoshi Island.</p>
<p>He nodded, putting himself on the line. He felt faint, as if his heart were outside his body. "If you'll still have me."</p>
<p>"Oh, Sokka. I will." She looked down, wiping roughly at her eyes. Then she gathered herself and told him briskly, "But enough about the past. This is new, beginning now."</p>
<p>"Yes. A fresh start. I can't believe you're going to give me a second chance." He barely got the words out before his throat started to close up and his lip to quiver. Before he could burst into tears, she kissed him again, softly and slowly this time. Her kiss balanced him and channeled his emotion, turning his attention from the sorrow and difficulty of their time apart, to their very real present togetherness. Sokka felt as thankful and relieved as if she'd just saved his life again. He tasted a tear, and cupped her cheek.</p>
<p>This kiss could easily have gone on as long as the last one, but suddenly there was a crash nearby, and Suki whipped around, shielding him from whatever intruder was threatening them. He let her, knowing he was completely unarmed, while she almost certainly had several weapons hidden somewhere in her skirts. Yep, he was right: she was holding a fan behind her back for him to grab, as she unfurled a second one. He was blown away once again by what a great team they made, when he gave up on the ridiculous notion that he would be the only one providing protection.</p>
<p>It was a bronze statue, about ten feet tall, with a black-haired girl sitting on its shoulders, and two identical well-dressed boys with uneven eyes and serious acne, trotting along next to it. "Toph?" Sokka asked, standing up from his defensive crouch.</p>
<p>"Sorry, guys!" She called down from her perch on top of the statue, then yelled at her companions. "I told you two to steer me toward the giant pai sho board! Let's leave this happy couple alone! It wasn't enough that you spied on them before-although you might have needed the instruction. Guess I shouldn't complain. Which way?"</p>
<p>The boys pointed wordlessly, prompting more scolding from the statue's rider.</p>
<p>"Don't point, you idiots, tell me left or right!"</p>
<p>"Left," the twins said simultaneously.</p>
<p>"Have fun, guys! Glad you're back, Suki!" Toph called as she turned the statue around. The twins followed like loyal pets.</p>
<p>Sokka handed Suki back her fan and she tucked it away in a pocket.</p>
<p>"That girl is insane." She shook her head, looking after Toph. He thought he could detect some affection in her voice.</p>
<p>Sokka chuckled, glad that it seemed there would be no awkwardness between his two favorite girls. "Yeah. I probably don't want to know what she meant by those guys needing instruction."</p>
<p>"That's a safe bet. Now, where were we?" Suki asked, coming close again, eyes on his mouth. Instead of kissing interminably, this time they spoke quick phrases to each other, between short, firm touches of their lips, punctuating their rapid conversation with kisses.</p>
<p>"Missed you so much," he murmured against her mouth.</p>
<p>As he moved his lips up and down the side of her neck, she revealed, "I read your letters so many times."</p>
<p>"Dreamt of you every night," he replied against her throat.</p>
<p>"I never had any fun without you," she pouted, which pushed out her bottom lip in a way that made tasting it irresistible.</p>
<p>"You're even more gorgeous than I remembered," He pulled away just far enough to take in her face again, before diving back in for another kiss.</p>
<p>"Are you taller?" Suki wondered, realizing she was craning her neck back at a sharper angle than before.</p>
<p>"Maybe." He ran his hands up and down her sides, and shivered when she did the same. "Oh, this feels so good!"</p>
<p>When their dueling tongues made her think of their practice sessions, she sighed, "I missed sparring with you."</p>
<p>"I think I'm out of condition." Sokka explained while her lips trailed along his jaw. "None of the others are any good to practice with. They're all benders and I end up soaked or flying through the air….."</p>
<p>"I can't wait to whip you into shape," she smirked, squeezing his bicep.</p>
<p>"Oh, please, correct my form," he begged, his voice deepening.</p>
<p>"Gladly," Suki reached behind her, and pushed his hand from her lower back to a spot a bit further down.</p>
<p>They both moaned as they fell into an even deeper kiss.</p>
<p>As soon as her mouth fell away from his for a second, more words slipped past his lips without thought, his voice dreamy, eyes still closed: "Come to my tent tonight."</p>
<p>"Your tent?" She pulled away a little, looking confused. The spell was broken. "You're sleeping in a tent?"</p>
<p>"Well, no. I'm staying in a house in the upper ring with the others." He felt silly that his invitation had come out like that. He'd been remembering the way he'd asked her to spend the night with him, both still jittery from their near escape from Azula as they'd fled the Western Air Temple. But he was probably wrong to have made such a bold request at all. There were still a few important issues they needed to discuss, like where they would live. Were they really ready to jump right back into bed? And just kissing her was so much more intense than before-could he even handle it?</p>
<p>Before Sokka could figure out how to say any of that, she'd already decided. "I'm staying here in the palace. It's closer." She took his hand and started tugging him back toward the lights and music of the ball.</p>
<p>He took a few steps after her, while his sluggish brain caught up with the fact that she was taking him to her bedroom. Elation battled with mild panic. He slowed down and resisted her pull until she stopped and looked back at him.</p>
<p>"Don't you want to?" Suki asked, her forehead pinched. She had that vulnerable look in her eyes again. He knew he couldn't bear to make her feel hurt or rejected in any way.</p>
<p>"Of course, but-" He paused, unable to voice his fears. He settled on asking, "Are you sure?" He felt cowardly for not owning his own hesitation, for making her say again that she wanted him.</p>
<p>"Yeah," she gave him a puzzled look, as if it were a stupid question. Then she led him back through the party, up a flight of stairs and down some corridors, until finally they came to a door she seemed to recognize. She let go of his hand to pull out a key and open it. Next, she pulled him inside, closed the door behind her and locked it, grinning at him a little wickedly.</p>
<p>First she pulled the tie out of his hair and leaned back a little, to take in his face with his hair framing it. She made an appreciative sound in the back of her throat and pulled him in for another kiss. Suki seemed to be everywhere, quickening the pace of their kisses, hands working on the buttons of his jacket and shirt. When she'd uncovered his chest and run her fingers over it, she paused and looked at him.</p>
<p>"You're shaking." She observed, concerned.</p>
<p>"I think I'm more nervous than the first time." Sokka confided, trying to still his trembling fingers by gripping her waist more tightly.</p>
<p>"Why is that?" She asked softly.</p>
<p>"That night I was just so excited I wouldn't die a virgin. But now I know I'm going to have a future, and this is it. You are it for me, Suki. And that's a lot scarier. If this goes wrong, if I mess this up again, I will not be ok."</p>
<p>"I know what you mean. This feels more serious for me too." Her steadfast eyes grounded him, until his shaking calmed and mind cleared. She looked like she'd never been more sure of anything when she told him, "I love you, Sokka."</p>
<p>"I love you too." He responded immediately. "Even more than before." The words were a paltry reflection of his feeling inside. He'd show her this time, he resolved, leave no room for her to doubt it. Tonight, with his body, and then with his whole life.</p>
<p>"It is scary, but I want this." She affirmed.</p>
<p>"Me too." He nodded solemnly, grasping her hand the way they always did when they agreed on a battle plan. "We can face our future together. It'll be an adventure. You taught me how to be brave. You are a warrior."</p>
<p>"I'm a girl too." Suki reminded him, her lips quirking flirtatiously.</p>
<p>"Oh, I know." He grinned, taking her into his arms. "That's the best part." Sokka fell backward onto the bed, pulling his lover on top of him.</p>
<p>________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara found a spot behind a pillar where she had a clear line of sight to where her boyfriend stood chatting with the elegant, curvaceous girl. She felt ridiculous hiding and watching him. Surely if he were going to cheat on her, he wouldn't do it in public like this. But the issue was that he might not see it as cheating, and if that were the case, he would be as open about it as he was about everything he did.</p>
<p>Aang appeared increasingly uncomfortable as the two continued to talk. Katara saw him take two steps backward, as the girl moved into his personal space once, failed to take the hint, and did it again. When she put a hand on his arm, he moved it behind his head, and Katara caught a nervous look on his face. Clearly, he wasn't having a good time talking to this girl, and that was the main thing that mattered. She decided to swoop in.</p>
<p>"Oh, hi, sweetie!" Aang's eyes lit up as soon as he saw her. He accepted the glass of punch from her hand with a kiss on the cheek. "This is Genji. She's General How's daughter." After perfunctorily introducing the girl he'd been speaking with, he launched into a long speech bragging about his girlfriend, focusing on her recent work as a healer and midwife. Genji got a sour look on her face and beat a hasty retreat.</p>
<p>"Finally!" Aang burst out, as soon as the girl was out of earshot. "Thanks for rescuing me! I was starting to wonder how long it was going to take for you to come back with this." He took a drink of his punch.</p>
<p>"I saw you talking to her and wanted to see if you were enjoying yourself before I interrupted. In case you wanted a break from me." She told him sheepishly. "Here there are so many girls like her telling you how great you are all the time, and all I do is nag."</p>
<p>"Having fans does kind of feed the ego. You've done that for me too, sometimes." He touched her hand earnestly. "Whenever I was really discouraged, you built me back up. But too much of that-the monks would say it isn't healthy. And, sweetie, you don't nag. You get stuff done. It would take us forever to break down camp without you to run the show. We would have been late to this party if you hadn't made Sokka and me quit horsing around this afternoon. We need you to keep us on track. I'm sorry if I don't thank you enough for it."</p>
<p>"No, you do," she assured him. He expressed his appreciation for her all the time. For her to forget that in pointless speculation was ridiculous, she understood now. Abashed, she tried to explain herself. "It's just- she was so pretty, and fashionable, and the way she was looking at you…"</p>
<p>"I know nothing and care even less about fashion. Obviously." He indicated his outfit, 100 years out of date. "And you are clearly the most beautiful girl in this room. In every room. Yes, I'm biased, but that is also simply an objective fact. Genji," he shook his head. "she might be a nice enough person, but she was too….."</p>
<p>"Handsy?" Katara supplied a word, sipping her punch.</p>
<p>"Um, yeah." He looked embarrassed. "Did it bother you?"</p>
<p>"Well, I know it shouldn't." she said carefully, putting down her cup. "We never made any kind of promises about…..other people. I didn't know if the couples in the Air Temples were exclusive, or what you wanted…."</p>
<p>He appeared surprised. "Well, sometimes they were, and sometimes they weren't. I know we didn't talk about it, but I assumed….I thought it was implied in being your boyfriend."</p>
<p>She was immediately comforted: maybe they'd been on the same page after all. She hastened to clarify to him that she didn't consider herself free. "On my side, I made the same assumption when I started thinking of you that way. But we didn't agree on what that means either, did we?"</p>
<p>"You're right, we didn't. You do want us to be exclusive, don't you?"</p>
<p>"I do if you do." She stipulated. She couldn't imagine pursuing another guy, even if he asked for and took advantage of that freedom for himself, but her pride demanded that they have equal terms.</p>
<p>"Yes, I do." He confirmed. "It doesn't matter how pretty or how flattering these girls might be. My fans might try to stroke my ego, but you, Katara-you touch my soul. I'm not interested in anyone else."</p>
<p>"Aang." She wrapped her arms around him, and they relaxed into each other for two breaths. "Me neither," she whispered into his ear.</p>
<p>"Whew, that's a relief!" He exclaimed, pulling apart enough to grin at her. "You had me scared for a minute! I'm sorry, you're right, we should have discussed that a long time ago." With his apology, he dropped his arms from around her, and she did too.</p>
<p>"I guess I didn't need it to be explicit until we got to the city." She looked down at her hands. It was simple enough to rely on her deductions from their interactions when they were traveling with only their group and not staying anywhere long. But here, with girls throwing themselves at him all the time, she found it would help her insecurity if they had it clearly laid out. "I do trust you, but it's easier if I have some words to cling to. Especially now."</p>
<p>"Now that my fan club is waiting for me every time you step out of the picture for a second?" He guessed ruefully.</p>
<p>"Yeah." On one hand, she felt justified in questioning a commitment he had never voiced. Logically, she knew it would have been unreasonable if he had expected her to rely on unverified assumptions forever. But on the other, she thought that she wouldn't need a promise if she were stronger, if she could trust her power to attract and hold him. It was her own weakness that had made her act so foolishly, and that made her ashamed. She hung her head. "I hope that doesn't make me a jerk. I don't want to be possessive and jealous."</p>
<p>"Not at all!" He reassured her, touching her arm. "It's perfectly natural to want words and definitions, so that we're both clear on our expectations. On what this means." They looked at each other for a long moment. Exclusivity wasn't the only thing they'd left unspoken far too long.</p>
<p>Katara was suddenly overcome with relief and gratitude. To be permitted to need explicit promises, and to be given them so freely, when she'd been imagining a precarious future entirely lacking any such commitments-it seemed a great gift. Before he could say anything else, she put her hand behind his neck and pulled him to her for a deep kiss. She pushed her lips emphatically against his, trying to show what his words meant to her. She knew she couldn't kiss him too long, because they were in the middle of the Earth King's crowded ballroom, but she made sure to be thorough enough to leave them both breathless.</p>
<p>"Thank you." She moved her hand to his cheek and caressed it with her thumb, a small smile lighting her face. "I'm glad we have that settled. Now I feel really dumb for hanging back to watch you with that girl. To see what you would do." She confessed.</p>
<p>He raised his eyebrows, taken aback. "You were testing me?" He frowned to himself. "Did I pass?"</p>
<p>"Yes, but not with flying colors. It looked like you were pretty uncomfortable." She took another sip of her drink. It was warm, so she cooled it again.</p>
<p>"I was! She was telling me about her vacation on Whaletail Island, where she and her sisters like to swim naked."</p>
<p>Katara practically spat out her punch. "And you didn't shut it down right there?"</p>
<p>"I didn't want to be rude…."</p>
<p>"She's the one who was acting inappropriately." The waterbender insisted. "I could tell from across the room you didn't like her getting in your space; she could have stopped that at any time. How would you feel if a guy talked to me that way?"</p>
<p>Aang's stomach turned. "I….wouldn't like it."</p>
<p>"And I wouldn't either, so I would walk away."</p>
<p>"Oh." Now he felt stupid. What a simple solution! "So that's what I should do? Just walk away?"</p>
<p>"Maybe, but not because I'm telling you to. Because you know you don't have to sit there if some girl is crossing a line. You're naturally polite and loathe to offend anyone, but you have to have boundaries. You can be firm without being mean." Katara sighed. "I know that fangirls are part of the deal with dating the Avatar. That doesn't bother me. I understand that women are going to find you attractive."</p>
<p>"I don't think that's it," he said modestly. "It's just because I'm famous."</p>
<p>"That's part of it," Katara allowed. "But I think as you grow up, that balance may shift. Anyway. I'd never hold you responsible for their….craziness. That would be really unfair. The only thing that matters to me is your response."</p>
<p>"And how would you like me to respond?" His gaze was totally open; he was in student mode, willing to take any instruction she might give.</p>
<p>"If we're going to be exclusive, then I would like it to be clear to me and to everyone that my feelings are more important to you than some stranger's. Don't be so worried about hurting one of them that you end up hurting me instead."</p>
<p>His eyes widened in horror at the thought. "You're right! I would never want to do that! I'm so glad you explained it to me that way, because I can remember that and use it to help me set those boundaries."</p>
<p>"It's only the really aggressive ones who will push you to resort to rudeness. Genji was far from the worst. All you had to do was call me sweetie, and she ran away. I have noticed how you make it a point to introduce me as your girlfriend. You're aware of this situation, and mindful of how it affects me, and that's all I can ask of you. I hope you know how much I appreciate it." She took his hand and squeezed it.</p>
<p>"Of course I tell everyone you're my girlfriend. I'm so happy and proud to be with you." He pressed her fingers in return. "And you're considerate of me the same way. You show me that I'm your priority now, and other guys don't have a chance. Like when you turned down all those waterbenders who wanted to dance with you at Chief Arnook's party. Or when you came straight to me after you talked to Haru."</p>
<p>"Hey, speaking of Haru, I saw him in a corner alcove flirting with one of the Kyoshi warriors." She shared the gossip. "Ling, I think was her name? She was almost in his lap."</p>
<p>"Good for them." Aang approved.</p>
<p>"I think it helped that he shaved that ridiculous moustache."</p>
<p>"If he hadn't had that moustache, would he have gotten anywhere with you at the Western Air Temple?" He teased her.</p>
<p>"No." Katara answered seriously. "I was a wreck. Your kiss blew me away. I couldn't handle it, so I stuffed my feelings in a box marked 'to be opened after the war.' And if I couldn't think about how I felt about you, I was even more incapable of considering any other guy. The truth was, you had claimed me. Even then I felt bound to you. I was just too afraid to voice it or admit it to myself."</p>
<p>Aang swallowed, his eyes focused on hers. He'd expected her to say no, but not to share such an intimate confidence. He hadn't known she'd felt so strongly for him that early. Moved, he reciprocated. "You had claimed me too. Probably the day you woke me up. Even without meaning to."</p>
<p>The conductor of the small orchestra that had been playing all night announced that the musicians were back from their break and about to begin a waltz.</p>
<p>A dance seemed like the perfect way to celebrate their new understanding, while also stepping their emotional intensity back down to a normal level, one appropriate for a public event. Aang turned toward the floor and held up his elbow for Katara. "Shall we?"</p>
<p>"Yes, we shall."</p>
<p>_____________________________________________________________</p>
<p>The morning sun found Sokka and Suki making love for the third time. Their first reunion had been fast and explosive, the second took place somewhere between dreams and reality, and now, thoroughly rested and reacquainted, they were languid, decadently slow and deliberate. Eventually, both sated, they rolled apart and lay side by side, looking up at the ceiling and wondering what came next.</p>
<p>Sokka turned his head on the pillow to look at her. "So how long are you in town?" he asked brightly.</p>
<p>Suki narrowed her eyes at him quizzically. "I don't understand."</p>
<p>He rephrased. "When do you go back to Kyoshi Island?"</p>
<p>She threw the covers off her and got up. Instantly, she remembered she was naked and started looking for some clothes. She was sure she looked foolish rummaging around her room without a stitch on, and that only infuriated her more. Finally she did find a robe and pulled it on. "I can't believe that after last night, after everything we said and-and did, you're going to just send me back to Kyoshi Island—"</p>
<p>"What?" He jumped out of the bed as well, on the opposite side, just as naked, but too upset to bother looking for something to put on. "I can't believe that's what you think! What did I do wrong? I thought I made it perfectly clear last night that I want to be with you! More than anything!"</p>
<p>"Then why did you just ask about when I'm going back?" She accused him. "Like you're trying to get rid of me!"</p>
<p>"I just thought if you were leaving, like tomorrow, I might need to stay here and finish up this round of colony talks before I join you." He explained. "I've been representing the tribe. I guess Katara could do it, but she's been busy taking classes on medicine and working at the midwife clinic. It would probably only be about a week. And then I could take the train, or a boat. How did you get here? Which is faster?"</p>
<p>"You were planning to come to Kyoshi Island with me? For good?" She looked shocked.</p>
<p>"Of course. You have obligations there. And family." He said in a matter-of-fact way, as if it were settled. "We didn't discuss any of that last night, but I assumed it hadn't changed."</p>
<p>"What would you do there?" She wondered, baffled.</p>
<p>He shrugged. "I don't know. I'd figure something out. Teach the Kyoshi Warriors to throw a boomerang?"</p>
<p>She laughed in surprise, covering her mouth with a hand, then dropping it to her delighted heart.</p>
<p>He considered that encouragement and went on, sharing a couple other ideas he'd had. "I could captain a fishing boat," he offered. "Or make trade runs between Kyoshi Island and the South Pole."</p>
<p>"You think you'd like that?" She asked doubtfully. That kind of life seemed so modest, for a boy who had changed the world.</p>
<p>"Sure. As long as I could come home to you."</p>
<p>"But you have obligations too." She argued. "What about the tour?"</p>
<p>"That's not important, and it's winding down anyway. If you hadn't shown up last night, I was planning to go see you on Kyoshi when Aang and Katara go to the Fire Nation. I couldn't wait any longer. I missed you too much."</p>
<p>"I missed you too. That's why I gave up my command."</p>
<p>"What?" Now he was the one who was shocked.</p>
<p>"I passed off my role as captain to Ling. She's been itching for it."</p>
<p>"But you love being a Kyoshi warrior!" He felt devastated on her behalf.</p>
<p>"And I always will be one. It's a lifelong sisterhood. But I wanted to be with you. And I was starting to feel stuck and stifled on the little island, to be honest. So when I got your letters, with hints that you wanted to get back together, I started thinking about how much fun I had flying around the world with you." She looked shy suddenly, as if her words were even more revealing than the way she'd disrobed for him the previous night. "I hoped that we'd see each other here and then you'd just…take me along on your next adventure."</p>
<p>"Oh, Suki." He walked around the bed and hugged her. "Sounds like we have some things to talk about." He pulled playfully on her robe's sash. "Do you think we can have a serious discussion lying naked in bed, or will it be too distracting?"</p>
<p>"I think that's a situation where we can't lose." She answered coyly. "Either we make a big decision together quickly, and then celebrate, or we get distracted, and just take a little longer to decide."</p>
<p>"Good point. I don't have anywhere to be this morning. Or afternoon."</p>
<p>"Me neither."</p>
<p>They climbed back into bed, and made themselves comfortable lounging under the covers in a loose embrace.</p>
<p>"All right, what choices do you have? What would you want to do if I weren't in the picture?" Sokka asked. He didn't want to restrain her or tie her down in any way.</p>
<p>"I guess I could go back to the island and ask to resume my command." Suki mused. "Or move to a different role, probably training new recruits. Girls are coming from all over the Earth Kingdom lately. And our services are in demand. King Keui invited us to work as police here in Ba Sing Se, now that the Dai Li have been disbanded. Zuko asked us to come provide security for him, but I think that's mostly a way for Mai to get to hang out with Ty Lee. And the colony cities, especially Yu Dao and Cranefish Town, have requested our help keeping the peace during the transition."</p>
<p>"I heard about that last one. Is there one of those places you'd like to go more than the others?"</p>
<p>"I was going to ask which you might prefer. And I'm sure you have some options too. There's the tour, I know, but what about after?"</p>
<p>"Well, like I said, the colony talks are ongoing, and I might be expected to participate in those." Sokka began. "I could always to go university, either here or in the Fire Nation. Zuko invited the Mechanist to Caldera University to research peaceful technologies. Transportation, mechanical plows, that kind of thing. I have a spot in his lab if I want it. He says I need to learn to draw a proper diagram. Or Zuko would let me just hang out at the palace if I wanted. He could appoint me advisor of something, or I could be the Water Tribe ambassador. Master Piandao invited me to train at his estate. I could always just keep tagging along with Aang and Katara. Toph is thinking about starting a metalbending school, I could help her out with that. And, of course, Dad would love to have me back in the south."</p>
<p>"Wow. It seems like a lot of people want you around." The number, variety, and prestige of Sokka's offers impressed her. Suki appreciated how multitalented her boyfriend was, how he'd formed relationships with people all over the world.</p>
<p>"Yeah." He lifted and dropped one shoulder nonchalantly. "But if you didn't, none of it would matter."</p>
<p>Suki realized that he'd weighed his love for her against the chance to develop one or all of his many skills, and had picked her. She was humbled and gratified, but also understood that she'd basically made the same choice. Her eyes softened and she kissed him, a short, pillowy touch of thankful lips.</p>
<p>Sokka stroked her hair and arm as he pulled away. Her bare skin pressed against his side felt amazing, but he was too curious about the decision she'd made to focus on the places his body touched hers. "What did you think you would do, when you decided to come here and rejoin me?" he wondered. "You're not the type to just follow a guy and support his career. You have dreams of your own. And don't get me wrong, I love that about you."</p>
<p>"I figured I'd done everything I wanted to do on Kyoshi Island. I finished training a set of recruits, officiated at my sister's initiation, and appointed my successor. I know I'll be able to help people and make myself useful wherever I go, and there's no better way to make sure I'm in the thick of things than to be part of Team Avatar. And, to be honest, the time we spent traveling felt like an amazing vacation to me, even with all the danger. It was a lot less regimented and more exciting than life on Kyoshi."</p>
<p>"I'm really glad to hear you say all that. And you know the others will be thrilled to have you along again. But I'd feel bad if you had to sacrifice your dreams, just to be with me."</p>
<p>"I wouldn't want you to do that either." She agreed. "But, luckily, it seems like that won't be an issue for either of us. We're both pretty flexible. And there might be some overlap, a few ways we could both be useful and do interesting work in the same place. Like you could work in the research lab while I provide security for Zuko."</p>
<p>"Yeah. Or we could go to the colonies. They could use all the help they can get."</p>
<p>"That might be the place we're needed most," she nodded thoughtfully. "The other opportunity that intrigues me is Master Piandao. Do you think he'd train me too?"</p>
<p>"I'd be surprised if he wouldn't." Sokka lowered his voice. "He hinted about the White Lotus. The paper he wrote the letter on had the symbol on it, and he gave me that pai sho piece, so I wondered if he was going to invite me to join. They're all about peace and balance and supporting the Avatar, and now I'm a war hero who happens to be the Avatar's best friend."</p>
<p>"That's amazing, Sokka! What an honor!" She nudged his shoulder with hers, her eyes shining with pride. "And you would look great in those blue and white uniforms!"</p>
<p>"I know! Although I think they're missing something." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could talk them into adding hats to the ensemble…"</p>
<p>"Do you think they let women join?"</p>
<p>"You know, I don't remember seeing any old ladies at the camp around Ba Sing Se. But if they don't allow women, that's a problem for me. If they're stupid enough to exclude half the world, I'm not sure I want to be part of a group like that, no matter how prestigious they are. Or how cool their outfits look."</p>
<p>"Well, if that's the case, maybe we could help them reform the ancient organization, and make me the first female member of the Brotherhood. I changed your mind about women warriors, after all." She poked his chest playfully. "And Katara got Pakku to go against his tradition to teach her. I'm sure the two of us could take on a bunch of old dudes."</p>
<p>He loved the idea of her showing those elderly masters what a woman was capable of. An image of that uniform, cut to fit her figure, came to mind. Her confidence was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. He was ready for this conversation to be over.</p>
<p>"So…Piandao first, then either Caldera or the colonies?" Sokka proposed tentatively.</p>
<p>"I like that plan." Suki nodded. "I don't think we need to look any farther out than that right now. The most important thing is that we're together." She held up her hand, and he took it in that battle-ready grip they had used the previous night to seal their union.</p>
<p>"Absolutely." Sokka couldn't imagine being parted from her for long now, and was grateful she seemed to feel the same. "Whew. It—uh-sounds like we just made a big decision." He raised a suggestive eyebrow at her.</p>
<p>"I think that means we have something to celebrate." She mirrored his grin.</p>
<p>He pulled on their joined hands, using that leverage to roll them both onto their sides, facing each other. "We certainly do."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Well, was the Sukka reunion everything you hoped it would be? Please leave me a review and let me know what was your favorite part of this chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's note: This is a tough, angsty chapter, everybody. Don't say I didn't warn you.</p>
<p>Content warning: miscarriage, infertility, pregnancy loss</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Aang finished his morning exercise and meditation, Sokka was at the table eating breakfast and reading the newspaper, and Toph was sprawled on the couch in her robe petting Momo. Katara was already on her way to the clinic. The airbender greeting his friends cheerily and put on a kettle for tea.</p>
<p>"So the twins went back to Omashu?" Sokka asked Toph.</p>
<p>"Yeah, they left yesterday."</p>
<p>"Oh." Aang said, disappointed for her. "I thought maybe you were going to….take up a new hobby."</p>
<p>"Or two." Sokka added with a smirk.</p>
<p>"Nah." Toph waved away the idea. "I decided I couldn't pick between two identical hobbies, so I didn't need one. That's all either of them would ever have been good for, anyway."</p>
<p>"So you do understand the difference now," Aang said smugly.</p>
<p>"Whatever." She stood and stretched. "I'm going to get dressed and go to mom and dad's. They have better food. What are you two doing today?"</p>
<p>"Colony talks, then an afternoon sparring session with Suki. And I might take her to a little poetry reading in the evening." Sokka seemed so excited they had to assume sparring was a euphemism.</p>
<p>"Colony talks, then lessons on the last hundred years of Earth Kingdom history with King Keui." Aang made a face.</p>
<p>Sokka shuddered. "You poor thing."</p>
<p>Aang shrugged. "It's not like I can hang out with Katara anyway. She'll be at the clinic again all day."</p>
<p>"Stuck in classes and neglected by your girlfriend?" Toph shook her head ruefully. "Maybe you need another hobby."</p>
<p>"Do you mean hobby or relationship?" Aang asked testily.</p>
<p>"Either. Both." Toph teased.</p>
<p>Aang bent a bit of dishwater across the room to flick the earthbender right in the forehead. Toph started to get into a stance, until Sokka warned her, "Hey, we don't want to wreck the Earth King's house again. It might have serious diplomatic consequences this time!"</p>
<p>"What's he gonna do? Banish the Avatar? Piss off the Flying Boar?"</p>
<p>"Stop listening to us in the colony talks and spark another global conflict?" Sokka retorted.</p>
<p>"I thought you were leaving to eat at the townhouse," Aang imitated Poppy's snobby voice.</p>
<p>"Yeah. Gonna eat lots of bacon too." She stuck her tongue out at the vegetarian and left the room.</p>
<p>"There's an article here you need to see." Sokka tossed the paper in front of the younger boy. He opened it and saw the headline: "Avatar Aang needs to think about breeding, expert says."</p>
<p>The article pointed out that since Aang was the last airbender, that meant he had sole responsibility for the rebirth of his nation. He was the only one who could sire any future airbender, and if he failed, airbending would die with him, and the Avatar cycle would only last 3 more generations. The expert who had been consulted, a breeder of racing ostrich horses, went on at length about how many foals a single stud could produce, given a large enough stable of fertile mares. He'd calculated that assuming Aang lived to a ripe old age of 80, he could father as many as 20,000 airbenders, all his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, with a sufficiently vigorous breeding regimen, but he would need to start soon.</p>
<p>"I feel sick."</p>
<p>He did look green in the face. And his breathing was all wrong. "Are you going to throw up?" Sokka asked uncertainly.</p>
<p>"I haven't eaten yet this morning, or I probably would."</p>
<p>"Maybe put your head between your knees?"</p>
<p>Aang complied. When he came up, he looked more red than green. "I don't really have to do this, do I?" He asked, looking utterly miserable, and nearly panicked. "Is this what the world really expects of me?"</p>
<p>"No." Sokka reassured him. "This guy is kind of extreme. I think the world does expect you to have kids someday. Like a normal person, not like a stud ostrich horse. If you, uh, died childless, it would be considerably more tragic than it would be for anyone else."</p>
<p>Aang slumped and stared down at the table. "I guess that's true."</p>
<p>Sokka picked up the paper again, and tried to speak about the breeder's recommendations with a bit of distance and humor. "My question is how this guy came up with these numbers. Does he expect you to do the deed every single night with a different fertile woman? How many women does he think are just dying to donate their womb to help repopulate the world with airbenders? And I don't understand the economics of this. The breeder is obviously used to getting paid stud fees—the owners of the mares pay him to have his champion ostrich horse impregnate them. But I think with humans, if anything it would go the opposite way, and I don't know who he thinks would be paying these women. You? Zuko's reparations fund? Sure, you might get a few volunteers, but not thousands."</p>
<p>Aang's face was changing color again, and this time he seemed to be getting more angry than nauseated. "Using women and…..breeding people like this is-offensive."</p>
<p>"I agree, especially at this scale." The older boy responded mildly. "But I'm a little surprised that you feel this disgusted by it. You told us how your people were kind of casual about this kind of thing."</p>
<p>"I wouldn't say that." Aang shook his head. "We take sex very seriously."</p>
<p>Sokka tilted his head to the side, puzzled. "You said there was no marriage."</p>
<p>"You're not married, and you and Suki-don't you take it seriously?"</p>
<p>"Well, yeah, I guess I do now. But the way you described them, it didn't even sound like your people were monogamous."</p>
<p>"I don't see why you'd have to be monogamous to be serious about sex." Aang answered reasonably.</p>
<p>Sokka crossed his arms and looked at him with a steely gaze. "You'll have to explain to me how that works."</p>
<p>Suddenly this felt like a very important conversation to Aang. As if Sokka had just asked him, 'what are your intentions concerning my sister?'</p>
<p>"Are you inquiring out of anthropological interest in my people, or on Katara's behalf?" Aang carefully requested clarification.</p>
<p>"How about first your people, then Katara."</p>
<p>"Ok. I….can't really speak from experience here, so I'll just tell you what we learned in the Air Temple." He tried to remember the open, matter-of-fact way his teachers had talked about matters that the other three nations seemed to see as so intimate, even taboo. Without meaning to, he seemed to have absorbed some of his companions' reticence, but this conversation demanded a return to the broad-minded attitudes of his people. "Our lessons were pretty comprehensive. I told you how we were all one big family. It could have destroyed the whole community if sex were-misused in some way, so they made sure to instill good values in us, starting really young. The monks and nuns told us that you should always treat the other person with respect and care, even if you only come together once. They said it's not enough to make sure that both people are ok with what's happening: it's totally pointless unless you're both actively enjoying it the whole time. They taught us that sex should ideally always be about…..a moment of connection, not just with the other person but with something bigger than both of you. But also that sometimes one encounter could simply be enough; it could be all you needed from that partner ever. The Air Nomads never slept together for the purpose of making babies, or at least not only for that purpose. Kids were just a happy byproduct. The fertility festivals were a celebration of life, a way to share pleasure, attraction, affection, at least, and usually love as well… But all of those would be completely absent for me with any woman but Katara. If I'd never met her, maybe I'd want to have the kind of love life that the adults of my childhood had. It might be interesting to get to know a lot of people that way. But now that I do know her, I just have no desire for anyone else, and I can't imagine that ever changing."</p>
<p>"That sounds a little different and more nuanced than what you told us before. Not as libertine as I was imagining." Sokka responded thoughtfully. "And I didn't know you'd decided you didn't want that kind of lifestyle. Honestly, for my sister's sake, I'm glad you hate that ostrich horse breeder's idea so much. There are a lot of guys who'd be pretty excited about the concept of a harem. But not a lot of brothers who'd want their sisters to be part of one. Especially not coming from the Water Tribe. Not that Katara would ever go along with that anyway."</p>
<p>"I'd never ask her to. That would be such an insult! I'd rather die as the last airbender than suggest such a thing, under any circumstances. Katara is…..everything I could ever want." He looked away, staring into the distance, as if caught by a beautiful vision. "Making love to her would be….."</p>
<p>"Ew, stop right there. I do not want to know." Sokka made a face and held up his hand.</p>
<p>Aang shrugged and started cutting a piece of fruit for breakfast. He hoped he hadn't said the wrong thing. It seemed like he hadn't. Sokka turned back to a different page in the newspaper. The kettle whistled. Aang made his tea and sat back down.</p>
<p>"Ok, fine." Sokka threw down the paper, exasperated. "I'm going to regret this, but you made me too curious. What were you going to say before I cut you off?"</p>
<p>"A sacrament." He said softly, then noticed his friend's confused expression. "Do you have that word in Water Tribe religion?"</p>
<p>"Guess not. It's something special?"</p>
<p>"Beyond special. Something holy. A transcendent spiritual experience."</p>
<p>"Uuugh!" Sokka groaned, scrubbing his eyes with his hands, as if trying to clear his brain of the words Aang had said. "That is the most oogie, disgusting thing I have ever heard!" Then, resigned, he sighed. "It's also exactly what she deserves. I know that now, because of how sex is different with Suki from before. I mean, it was always nice. Great, even. But now?" He widened his eyes, popped his lips, and made a gesture with his fingertips coming apart at his temple, as if to say 'mindblowing.' "And I don't just mean physically."</p>
<p>Aang wasn't sure how to react to that. "That's—uh-really cool, Sokka. I'm—ah—happy for you?"</p>
<p>"Thanks, bro. I'll be honest, I was kind of weirded out by what you said about your people's….customs at the Air Temple, but now that I understand you a little more, it's fine. I approve." He said magnanimously, then paused. "But that doesn't mean you should-there's no rush, you understand?" Sokka lowered his chin and narrowed his eyes at his sister's boyfriend.</p>
<p>"Oh, of course!" Aang assured him. It occurred to him that Katara wasn't that much younger than her brother had been when he first began sleeping with Suki, so he was being pretty hypocritical, but that was to be expected. No point arguing about that when this conversation was going better than he'd ever imagined. "I'd never-she's the one who decides…who makes the timeline."</p>
<p>"That's what I'm afraid of," Sokka muttered. "Maybe pretend she's your age, and make it two years behind her timeline. No reason she should spoil your innocence too soon."</p>
<p>Aang reddened at his implication. The idea that Katara might be ready before he was, was a bit overwhelming, but maybe not really all that farfetched, given the way he could barely keep up with her sometimes. He remembered the noncommittal language his girlfriend had used with her father and borrowed the technique. "I'll—uh-keep that recommendation in mind."</p>
<p>Sokka tilted his head reflectively. "You know, I think I was wrong before."</p>
<p>"About what?"</p>
<p>"When I said Katara was just killing time with you. She hasn't even looked at any other guys, and she's had plenty of opportunity in the north, and here in the city. Now I'm thinking maybe the fact that she didn't want Madame Wu to tell her fortune means that being with you has changed her in a way I didn't anticipate."</p>
<p>Aang vividly remembered how Sokka's words back in Makapu Village had instilled such fear and insecurity in him. Hope rose in his chest. "You mean-you think she does want to be with me?"</p>
<p>"Probably." Sokka paused. "But are you telling me you two still haven't discussed getting married, or not getting married, or anything?"</p>
<p>"Not really. We did talk about how we want to be exclusive, but she still hasn't brought up marriage. And I've been too afraid to." Aang admitted sheepishly. "How do you even start that conversation without just….proposing? I don't want to presume that she would want to marry me in the first place, and we're too young anyway."</p>
<p>"You are, yeah. But she's sixteen in just a couple weeks. You two definitely need to talk about your future and what it looks like. And it would be best if you were prepared to make some compromises." Sokka advised. "I don't think she's ready for a proposal either, but she has to have thought about it, as madly in love as you two seem to be."</p>
<p>Upon hearing this, Aang burst into hysterical laughter. Mid-guffaw, his mouth twisted and he gasped. His elbows dropped onto the table and he hid his face, as his shoulders continued to shake.</p>
<p>"Are you ok?" Sokka asked, concerned.</p>
<p>"I'm great," Aang spoke into his hands. Then he took a deep breath and uncovered his face, his shoulders sagging weakly. "I don't think I've ever felt so relieved."</p>
<p>"Not even when you defeated the Fire Lord? Or when Appa came back?" Sokka wondered, his expression one of disbelief.</p>
<p>"Close, but no. Ever since you said Katara was about to break up with me, I've been working so hard to be the best boyfriend of all time. To win her over, so she'd want to stay with me." The airbender explained. "I've been arranging my schedule around her time at the med school and the clinic, cleaning this place so she doesn't have to, complimenting her as much as I can without going overboard, kissing her just the way she likes it, buying presents and planning her birthday…."</p>
<p>"That's….kind of cute. And I'm sure you did win some points that way. She seems pretty happy."</p>
<p>"You think so?"</p>
<p>Sokka shrugged. "Yeah."</p>
<p>"Good." Aang nodded. "Then it was worth it. It's been a little exhausting, but only because it's been fueled by anxiety. And now you're telling me I don't need to be anxious?"</p>
<p>"I guess so, yeah." Sokka appeared abashed, guilty, even, which was not a normal look for him. Aang thought he might have been about to say he was sorry for the anguish his misunderstanding of his sister had caused his friend, but he found he didn't care to hear it. The assurance he'd just been given made his past worries fade into insignificance.</p>
<p>Instead of allowing a pointless apology, he made a joke of his assuaged angst. "I could kiss you right now."</p>
<p>"I'd rather you didn't." The Water Tribe boy stood to leave. "We better head over to the palace. Zuko will be mad if we're late and he has to make small talk with the Earth Kingdom guys for too long."</p>
<p>"Right." The Avatar did too, grabbing another moon peach for the road. "Don't let Katara see that." He pointed to the newspaper on the table.</p>
<p>"Oh, no. That would be like putting out a hit on that guy." Sokka grabbed it, and dropped it in a garbage can several blocks away from the house.</p>
<p>___________________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>At the midwife clinic, Katara was excited to see one of her favorite patients, Nuwa. She had recently arrived in the city, a refugee from the outskirts of the Si Wong Desert, where the Rough Rhinos had run rampant before the Fire Nation's defeat had sent them into hiding. When their home was destroyed, she and her husband had left for the city, along with a few others from their village. But unfortunately, he had caught an illness on the road, probably from bad water, and passed away before they arrived. Days later, her pregnancy had been confirmed; he had never even known. Despite her tragic story, Nuwa was cheerful and excited about her baby, which was due soon. Her pregnancy was healthy, uncomplicated, and nearly complete. Katara was glad to have an easy patient with only good news to share. She sent her home with a delivery kit and instructions for signs of labor to watch for.</p>
<p>After that happy appointment, Katara had two sad ones. When she examined her next patient, a seventeen-year-old who was in her fifth month, she couldn't find a heartbeat for the child. She called in another midwife to confirm, before giving her a tea that would bring on labor and help her pass the stillbirth. The girl was in good spirits at first, as she explained how the pregnancy had derailed her plans for a job in her favorite bakery, and the father had proven himself unequal to the challenge and disappeared. She insisted that she was glad to be rid of him, and that losing the pregnancy was a relief—and yet, when the tiny baby came apart from her, she wept uncontrollably.</p>
<p>"She knew," the girl sobbed, "she knew I didn't want her, and now she's gone-" she covered her mouth, choking off another wail.</p>
<p>"It doesn't work like that," Katara told the girl, squeezing her hand. "You didn't cause this. I know you're going to have another baby someday, with the right guy." She comforted the girl as best she could, and released her to the care of her older sister.</p>
<p>Next, she met with another woman in the middle of a miscarriage, this one very early. She brought clean linens for the bleeding and massaged her belly with water to ease her discomfort and help the process along. This woman already had one child, but it was her third loss in a year, and each one seemed to hurt more than the last, she told Katara.</p>
<p>"People tell me I should be happy with my daughter," she explained, "and I am, but I still want to give her a brother or sister. Our family doesn't feel complete. I miss having a baby. The thought of that part of my life being over-" The woman's chin began to tremble, and her eyes grew shiny with tears.</p>
<p>Katara encouraged her to try again, when she felt ready. "Take time to mourn these losses, and find more sensitive friends. You were able to conceive and to bring one child to term. There's no reason why the next one might not turn out differently. You have so much time."</p>
<p>Katara noticed that the only way she could think to comfort these women was to urge them to look forward to having another baby someday, and she had no way of knowing if that would ever happen. Though she knew a woman who miscarried had a good chance of eventually bearing a healthy baby, she was also aware that one miscarriage made future ones more likely. True happiness for these women seemed unthinkable if their desire for a child was never fulfilled. At least, Katara was sure she would feel that way in their situation.</p>
<p>The healer's next patient was a mystery. Liao had been referred to Katara by the other midwives, who couldn't explain why she'd never been able to conceive. The hope was that the waterbender would be able to "see" under the woman's skin and diagnose the problem.</p>
<p>"How long have you been married?" she asked Liao.</p>
<p>"Sixteen years."</p>
<p>"And how old are you?"</p>
<p>"Thirty-six."</p>
<p>"Do you and your husband sleep together often?" Katara asked tactfully. "Do you know about timing it with your cycle?"</p>
<p>"For the first five years of our marriage, it was every other day. Now we average once a week. Maybe an extra time or two in the middle of my cycle, when the other midwife told me I'd be most fertile."</p>
<p>"Your periods are regular, then?"</p>
<p>"Yes. Thirty days, sometimes thirty-two."</p>
<p>"Are you sure the problem is on your side?" She asked. "Has your husband seen a doctor?"</p>
<p>"Yes, and his doctor said he's perfectly healthy. And, well, he's already fathered a child once before, you see. He had a wife and son who he lost before I met him." That was pretty good evidence that the problem wasn't her partner.</p>
<p>"Lay down and I'll examine you." Covering her hands with water, Katara touched Liao's abdomen, feeling below the skin for cysts, fibroids, scarring, blockages, any other abnormalities that might explain what was happening-or in this case, not happening. But everything seemed to be in order. She could identify all of the structures and organs she'd learned about in her anatomy class, and they all had the proper shapes and connections. Her hormones seemed to be in the correct balance. She could tell that she was in the later part of her cycle, and would begin bleeding in a couple days.</p>
<p>Katara was at a loss. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to say. I can't explain why it's not working. You're perfectly healthy."</p>
<p>Liao looked down. Her voice was flat and numb, as if she were no longer capable of feeling much of anything at all. "I've let him down. You should see him with his nephews; he loves kids so much, and I want to give them to him, and I don't understand why…"</p>
<p>"Please don't take it on yourself. It's not your fault. There's nothing you've done wrong to deserve this or cause it." She reassured the woman. "I hope your husband doesn't blame you."</p>
<p>"Oh, no. He's so kind. He would never make me feel bad about it. He says he's happy and I'm enough for him, but of course that only makes me love him all the more. I know how much being a father again would mean to him, especially after losing his first child, but he hides his disappointment every month now because he doesn't want me to feel guilty."</p>
<p>Liao's love for her husband was clear, and made the situation that much more devastating. Katara's heart went out to her. She thought of using the spirit water, but there was nothing she could find to cure, nothing wrong inside that she could use it to fix. And the idea of using it to cure infertility, if that was even possible, made her want to save the healing magic for herself.</p>
<p>Because she couldn't help imagining herself in Liao's place. The fact that she couldn't explain this infertility was what made it so chilling. That meant that it could strike anyone, for any reason or no reason. There would be no way to escape it if it was lying in wait for her, like a bomb inside her body. Her knowledge and skill as a healer wouldn't help her in the least, just as she couldn't help Liao. And she wouldn't know until she'd been trying to conceive for years, riding out cycle after cycle of hope and letdown while the whole world watched and waited.</p>
<p>How much more devastating would infertility be if it meant not only an empty crib and a lonely old age, but the complete disappearance of a nearly-extinct race? Poor Liao hoped to replace a single lost child, and not being able to do so was crushing her. Aang needed to restore an entire nation. No one woman could do that for him by herself, even if she were lucky enough to avoid the tragedies that happened every day in this clinic. Katara supposed there was a way around it, but it would break her heart.</p>
<p>_________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Katara came home late from the clinic. When she arrived at the house, dispirited, her boyfriend invited her to sit up on the roof with him. He took her in his arms and jumped straight up, landing nimbly on the clay shingles. Instead of facing him and starting a conversation, as she normally did, Katara immediately sat as close to him as she could, wrapping her arms around his waist and clasping her hands tight, her head stuck in the hollow of his shoulder. One of his arms naturally settled around her shoulders. She didn't say anything, just held him like she was afraid he would disappear.</p>
<p>Sokka had said they needed to talk about the future, and Aang figured this was a perfect time for that kind of conversation. They were alone and not likely to be interrupted. The night was clear and they could see a few stars over the rooftops of the city.</p>
<p>"I've been thinking about that talk we had at the ball." Aang began.</p>
<p>"About the fangirls?" She asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah, and before that, about being exclusive. There's a lot of stuff we haven't talked about, like the future, but maybe we need to."</p>
<p>He was right, they did need to, but Katara couldn't bear it. She couldn't let him make a promise he might have to break someday. She shook her head, still pressed against his shoulder. "I think we should just take it a day at a time. Who knows what's going to happen years from now?"</p>
<p>"There are some things we can be sure of…." Aang protested. He was sure his feelings for her would only grow, for example.</p>
<p>"No, we can't." she insisted flatly.</p>
<p>He felt dismayed, almost rejected. Wasn't that exactly the point—with all other things uncertain, to have one person you can cling to and depend on, no matter what? Sokka had seemed to imply that was what she wanted from him. Aang didn't understand why she would feel so precarious, so unsure. Surely it was nothing he'd done, right? Was it a lingering effect of the war? Had not knowing they would survive the final confrontation made it hard for her to rely on anyone?</p>
<p>Maybe there was another way to show her what he wanted for their future, to reassure her and pull her out of the despondent mood she seemed to be in. He pulled Katara's chin up for a kiss, trying to concentrate all of his hope and love in the gentle press of his lips on hers. But she didn't open her mouth to him the way she usually did. She kissed him back in a perfunctory manner, as if it were a quick public kiss of greeting or goodbye. He stopped, and her head returned to its spot on his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Bad day at the clinic?" He wondered.</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>"Do you want to talk about it?"</p>
<p>"Thanks, but no. Can we just….sit here?"</p>
<p>"Sure." Aang rested his cheek on her hair and looked up at the stars.</p>
<p>She was holding him tight, and that seemed to be giving her comfort. It felt great, having her body pressed so firmly against his side. She fit there perfectly. There was something needy about her arms, something that made him feel secure despite her refusal to discuss their future. To help her get even closer, he hooked his hand under her knees, and swung her legs over his, so that she was almost sitting in his lap. He thought whatever had happened at the clinic must have been pretty bad, if she didn't even want to kiss. Odd that she wouldn't tell him, but that was probably because it was private for the women she had treated. She was conscientious like that. She was such a great healer. He was proud of her.</p>
<p>There was no reason their discussion of their future had to happen anytime soon, despite what Sokka had said. Aang knew he would never push her, never impose unwanted questions or declarations on her. He was good at living in the present, the way she said she wanted them to. Each day with her was such a gift, that asking for a guarantee of endless days together seemed greedy, ungrateful. This was enough.</p>
<p>Katara had always known she'd have to share him with the world. She'd thought that would just mean interrupted dates, prolonged absences, and constant travel. She'd never imagined sharing him so intimately. That was probably naïve of her. She'd focused on Aang's role as the Avatar and forgotten about what it meant for him to be the last airbender. She realized now that though it would tear her to pieces, she would take any part of him she could get. Maybe that meant that it was too late to spare herself: she really did love him. Irrevocably, hopelessly, to the point of self-destruction. What a way to finally figure that out.</p>
<p>Because there were worse things than the pain she was anticipating for herself. She remembered the way Aang had clutched her at the Southern Air Temple, even more desperately than she was holding him now. She imagined him experiencing a version of that grief every month when she bled with disappointment, or, worse, with the loss of an almost-child. There wasn't much she wouldn't do to spare him that. Some risk of loss was inevitable, of course, inherent in the act of reproduction, but maybe it wouldn't feel so perilous if he could….hedge his bets. She could be generous enough to allow him a way around her limitations, generous the way he always was with her. Anything he did to bring back his people, she could forgive him, much more easily than she could forgive herself for failing him.</p>
<p>Katara recalled his perfect sincerity as he'd assured her, "I'm not interested in anyone else." Now she wished she'd never asked for a pledge of exclusivity; this might be easier if no commitment had ever been voiced. What he might have to do-it would break his heart too, she realized. He would hate it, maybe even run away from it the way he had fled his Avatar training so long ago. Oddly, there was a bit of consolation in knowing that she wouldn't be completely alone in her misery. But of course Aang would do his duty in the end. And she thought he was not one who could share his body without feeling. If he grew to care for another through the course of fulfilling his obligation, if he loved a woman who gave him something she couldn't—how could she blame him?</p>
<p>She shifted, and gripped him still more tightly. Maybe she needed one night where he was just hers, and then she could put this problem in a box inside and worry about it later. She was getting good at that. The box was getting full. It felt like splitting herself: the happy surface, the heartache buried down deep. Did love always feel like this? The waterbender wished her mother were here to tell her. She felt sure her parents' marriage had been idyllic and simple, in comparison with the complications of her intercultural relationship, though of course it had been tragically cut short.</p>
<p>Even now, Katara remained confident of the choice she'd made, because the calculation she'd told Aang about on their first date held: the good still outweighed the bad. Though she was becoming more aware of the challenges in their future, the joy he gave her every day grew in intensity at an even faster rate. Those good feelings would be back tomorrow, if she could just get through tonight. Luckily, he was here, helping her through it.</p>
<p>She resolved again to take each day, each moment, as it came, enjoying the simple pleasures he constantly offered her, the way he always did, the way he was teaching her to do. That way, then even if disaster struck—whether it was the violent kind that woke her, sweating and gasping, with flashbacks of Azula's lightning, or the slow-motion kind she'd witnessed today—at least she'd have no regrets.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Deep breaths. I promise they're going to be ok…..in the loooong run. And in the short run, Katara had gotten really good at compartmentalizing, at keeping that little box of worries firmly shut, so they're still going to be able to have fun and enjoy their fluffy romance. If you have questions about the implications of this chapter, feel free to drop them in a review or PM and I will respond. Or just let me know what you think of Aang's talk with Sokka, and Katara's painful decision, and her choice to keep it to herself. Reviews mean so much to me!</p>
<p>Next week we're taking a break from this heavy angst with politics, flirty Iroh, and bros bonding over meditation and tea. If you're not already subscribed, hit the button so you can get an email on Friday with a link to the next chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Colony Talks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Colony talks</p><p>To get to the meeting about the colonies, Aang and Sokka had to walk through a crowd of screaming girls. The famous Avatar didn't do more than smile and wave, but that was enough encouragement for one of the girls to faint, and another to yell a marriage proposal. When the fans' hands started getting grabby, Aang had to bend a wind around himself and Sokka that was just strong enough to discourage the girls from getting too close.</p><p>The council that had been convened to discuss the future of the colonies included Zuko and his party, King Keui and his advisors, King Bumi's daughter Bishi, who spoke for Omashu, and Toph's great uncle Guizu, serving as head of the Beifong family and representative of the province of Gaoling. The gathering was dominated by Earth Kingdom voices.</p><p>Zuko began the meeting with a kind of status report on the current state of the colonies. "The men my father and grandfather put in charge of the colonies are no longer serving. I have appointed new colonial governors, and their orders are to administer the colonies fairly, treating Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation citizens equally. They are also to prepare a report making recommendations concerning a transition plan."</p><p>"But fair according to whom? To the Fire Nation?" Asked one of the Earth Kingdom advisors, Fuchou, who quickly established himself as the voice of what radicals in Ba Sing Se and Yu Dao were calling the Harmony Restoration Movement.</p><p>"I trust the men I chose. They have an understanding of the history. I've charged them with being sensitive, and they have advisors from Earth Kingdom to help them see all perspectives." Zuko responded mildly. "But I understand if you don't trust them. What would make you feel more comfortable about their being in charge, at least in this interim?"</p><p>Fuchou was unable to come up with a suggestion short of a demand the Fire Nation governors leave immediately, which would leave the cities with no government at all, only a power vacuum for warlords, criminal organizations, or charlatans to fill in. No one wanted that.</p><p>The Earth King's legal counsel suggested an appeals court as a compromise. "Earth Kingdom citizens who feel a Fire Nation governor has mistreated them, could appeal the decision to a set of judges appointed by this very body."</p><p>Zuko thought the idea was pointless, but went along with it for the sake of playing nice. A temporary appeals court seemed like an easy concession for him to make, one that might win him some goodwill for later.</p><p>One member of Zuko's team was a woman named Yugo from a Fire Nation family who had grown up in the colonies. She had worked in the administration of a colonial governor who had originally been appointed by Azulon, but when Zuko took the throne, Yugo had eagerly left her position for a new one in his cabinet because she believed in the new Fire Lord's plans and values. Truthfully, she had confided to the young leader, she had been uncomfortable with a lot of the things she'd been asked to do while working in the colonial government and was excited for a chance to make amends.</p><p>Tasked with presenting the council with some examples of colonial culture, Yugo showed the group some pottery that had been fired in new kilns that had been developed recently by firebenders working closely with earthbending potters. The resulting dishes could withstand the heat of an oven without cracking, and cooled quickly enough not to burn a baker's hand. There were also sculptures of incredibly intricate and elaborate metalwork; the process for creating it had been developed in Yu Dao. Next, Yugo described the new theater productions that combined Fire Nation masked opera with Earth Kingdom folk music, and used both firebending and earthbending to provide special effects. When lunchtime came, she served the group a meal of the unique colonial fusion cuisine: traditional moo-pork from the Western provinces, with spicy sauces from the volcanic islands of Zuko's kingdom.</p><p>Sokka ate eagerly; he'd acquired a taste for hot foods while traveling in the Fire Nation before the comet. Aang enjoyed it as well, though he stuck to the rice and vegetable dishes. But Earth Kingdom advisors spit out the food, saying it was too spicy, and guzzling water. They asked for the moo-pork without the sauce. Zuko also overheard them making fun of the theater masks and metal sculptures.</p><p>When they reconvened after lunch, King Keui gave the floor to Fuchou.</p><p>"Harmony requires four separate nations. Therefore, all intermixing between Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation people should end immediately." He began, before his proposal degenerated into talk of banning 'miscegenation' and organizing cities to allow people to live among "their own kind." But it was when he started talking about forcing mass emigration, evicting all people with roots in the Fire Nation from their homes in the colonies, that others started to question his plan.</p><p>"But how would we decide which of the Fire Nation citizens will return?" Asked Guizo.</p><p>"Just send them all back! They had no right to come in the first place!" Fuchou threw up his hands in frustration.</p><p>"But where would they all go?" Aang asked, dumbfounded.</p><p>"Back where they came from, of course!"</p><p>"There are thousands of them!" Zuko objected, his voice rising. "The Fire Nation couldn't absorb a sudden influx of that many people. There's not enough jobs or housing, there would be mass homelessness, food shortages-a refugee crisis!"</p><p>"Just like the one your country's army has been causing all over the Earth Kingdom for decades! Fuchou shot back. "Unnumerable refugees pouring into this very city-"</p><p>"Exactly." The Fire Lord snapped. "I've tried to learn from the past and avoid repeating it. You want a repeat of the hundred years war, just with our countries' roles reversed."</p><p>"Hold on, everybody." Aang held up his hands. "It's at moments like this that I remember my training with the monks-I'd like to lead you all in a breathing exercise."</p><p>"Seriously?" Zuko muttered.</p><p>"Seriously." The airbender caught his friend's eye. "Breathe with me, everybody." There was quiet as the young Avatar directed the attention of the group to their diaphragms. "Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale." When he could see that their respiration had slowed, and most of their eyes were closed, he murmured koans from the Air Temple. "Breathe in anger. Breathe out calm. Breath in confusion. Breathe out serenity. Breathe in discord. Breathe out peace." After he had stopped directing their breathing, the leaders still stayed quiet for several moments.</p><p>King Keui was the first to break the silence. "Maybe we don't have to send them all back to the Fire Nation, Fuchou. And certainly not immediately. That is a bit extreme." His advisors started grumbling among themselves.</p><p>Soothed and centered by the short meditation, Zuko was able to recognize the statement from the other monarch as a step toward a middle ground, and wanted to encourage it with reciprocation. "I'd welcome back any Fire Nation citizens now living in the colonies who want to return to their homeland." He told the group. "I'd even help them start a new life. I'm already working on creating a formal program offering incentives—housing, jobs, loans—to colonists who come back. But I don't have the resources to give every single Fire Nation citizen in the colonies the support they'd need to successfully reintegrate into their country of origin. And I've received so many letters from my people who live in the colonies saying they don't want to leave. They have family and businesses; they've lived there for decades or generations. They're begging me to protect them, and I want to do it, but I admit that their presence on that land began with such an injustice. I'm torn."</p><p>The Fire Lord's admission appeased all but the most extreme of the Earth Kingdom delegation, and the meeting adjourned for the day with most participants feeling hopeful, but pensive.</p><p>______________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Zuko invited Aang and Sokka to join him at his uncle's tea shop following the colony meetings. It was a nice way to unwind from the stressful discussions in the peaceful atmosphere Iroh had created for his patrons. They ended up making it a habit.</p><p>After they settled into a quiet table in the corner, Sokka elbowed Aang. "Hey, next time things get heated, how about instead of doing a guided meditation, you just-glow it up. Like, you don't have to start throwing shit around, just get your eyes to turn all white and talk in that big scary 'voice of 1000 avatars' and tell everybody to calm the hell down."</p><p>"So I should terrify people into agreeing to keep the peace?" Aang asked incredulously.</p><p>Sokka just crossed his arms, convinced of his own genius. "You can't tell me it wouldn't work."</p><p>"Yeah, I'm not sure that's a good idea either. You're um, kind of scary when you're like that." Zuko shifted uncomfortably, remembering the sublime dread he'd felt watching an incandescent child rising above the freezing waters of the far south.</p><p>"That's the point!" Sokka replied.</p><p>"I really don't want to have to go into the Avatar state every time things start going wrong….." Aang fretted.</p><p>"I think we're already kind of intimidating to King Keui sometimes, without even bringing Avatar powers into it. He's a near-sighted non-bender who's spent his whole life in the library, facing three teenagers he knows could each kick his butt singlehandedly." Zuko cut his eyes at Sokka, who seemed to appreciate being included in their imposing trio. "Well, as long as that bear doesn't get involved."</p><p>"Ah, Bosco is gentler than a croco-kitten." Sokka waved it away. "Have you seen his manicured claws? He can't even eat any food that hasn't been cut up for him ahead of time."</p><p>"Bosco is certainly a lot less threatening than some of those Earth Kingdom advisors." Zuko rolled his eyes.</p><p>"Sometimes it's like they're encouraging King Keui to prove he's a big brave man to make up for years of letting the Dai Li run his kingdom for him." Sokka replied cynically. "They seem a lot more concerned with furthering their own careers than with doing what's right for the people of those cities."</p><p>"Or else they're just acting radical as a negotiation tactic," Aang speculated, somewhat more charitably. "Like haggling for a price at the market. Both the buyer and seller start the bargaining process with a number really far from what they expect will be the final price, knowing they'll both have to compromise to make a sale."</p><p>"I hope that's all it is. My biggest concern is protecting the fire nationals in the colonies as much as I can." Zuko told them. "I don't want to leave them defenseless or subject to unfair rule by the distant Earth King. The more we talk, the clearer it becomes that Keui and his advisors don't understand the colonies or their people, and they just see regaining control as a way to gain political points and make themselves look great. They don't understand or respect the blended culture that's arisen there."</p><p>"You think you understand it better?" Sokka asked skeptically.</p><p>"No, but I know that I need to learn more about it, and I'm willing to do that work. I don't see that same willingness from them." Zuko replied.</p><p>"All right, then. I mean, you do have a point. All I hear from those guys is 'throw out the ashmakers.' " Sokka made air quotes around the slur, but Zuko still raised his eyebrows at him. "Sorry. It's kind of xenophobic. Like over and above the….troubling history, they just want pure Earth culture and don't want anybody who's different from them to be around."</p><p>Aang shook his head solemnly. "That narrow-mindedness is toxic, and I can't support it. But I do sympathize with the lingering pain from the original colonization."</p><p>"We all do." Zuko assured him. "But it was over a century ago. The people who committed and suffered from those crimes are long dead."</p><p>"That doesn't mean it just goes away," Aang murmured. "And it also doesn't mean everyone needs to go back to wherever their ancestors came from. I just hope the whole council will agree in the end, no one should have to leave their home unless they want to."</p><p>"I think the three of us agree on that," Sokka said. Zuko verified with a nod. "But getting that whole crew to accede to a simple, humane goal like that is going to be a lot more difficult than it should be."</p><p>"But it's like Guru Pathik said, separation is an illusion." Aang argued, "I don't understand why it's so hard to get people to accept the idea that we don't need to be kept apart by national boundaries. That there is no zero sum competition between nations and peoples. Instead of fighting each other over some piece of land, we can live together with people who are different from us, and learn from each other, and all become more whole in the process."</p><p>"That's….pretty idealistic. But if anyone can get that bunch to go along with it, it's you." Zuko raised his cup of tea to the airbender.</p><p>_________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>The following day, Zuko came to the meeting prepared with a stack of the letters he'd received from colonists. Most simply told the story of their lives in the colonies, the families and businesses they'd created. Many of them had formed strong relationships with people from the Earth Kingdom and used their combined talents and cultures to create something new and vibrant. With such heartwarming evidence of the unique strengths of the communities and their people, it was hard to argue that the colonies should be completely dismantled. The Fire Nation citizens who had settled there had clearly contributed something vital to the life of these cities.</p><p>The day after that, the Earth Kingdom delegation copied his move. In addition to current letters from residents of the colonies, they also brought in historical accounts of the original colonization, the battles the Fire Nation had won when it originally took control, and the atrocities that had been committed against the original inhabitants of the land.</p><p>After a weekend's rest, both sides arrived at the negotiation table with additional documentation they intended to use as rhetorical weapons. For a while it seemed like the talks were going to descend into a contest of intensifying accusations of past and future atrocities. They spent almost an hour negotiating who would get to talk first, and how long, until Aang interrupted with a threat to make them all go out into the courtyard and do yoga with him.</p><p>To prevent that, Sokka broke in and named the elephant mandrill in the room. As a neutral party, the Water Tribe representative was able to state the obvious: both countries wanted ownership of the land and its resources. "Look, this is a waste of time. You're all just parading these documents in front of us as if a pile of paper is going to convince either Zuko or King Keui to just give up his claim on a few of the most prosperous cities in the world. What we have to decide here is who owns this land. What relationship do these cities and their people have to the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. If your letters and testimonies are really going to help us answer those questions, then, please. Proceed." He leaned back in his chair as the others seated around the table fell into a confused, discouraged silence.</p><p>_____________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>That afternoon, in the Jasmine Dragon, Sokka nudged Zuko. "Have you ever noticed how there are always a bunch of middle-aged ladies hanging around here and flirting with your uncle?"</p><p>They watched as Iroh brought a kettle of tea to a pair of women with gray streaks in their hair. His eyes twinkled at them as he poured, and his hands lightly touched both of their shoulders when he moved away. The women giggled like schoolgirls as soon as his back was turned.</p><p>"I think Iroh has his own fangirls." Aang chuckled. "He liberated the city, after all."</p><p>"He's just friendly." Zuko gruffly dismissed their insinuations.</p><p>"How would Mai feel if you pulled a shift here and were just as friendly to all the female customers?" Sokka asked knowingly.</p><p>Zuko blanched, and changed the subject. "I thought we were here to talk about the colonies."</p><p>"We just spent several hours talking about the colonies with a bunch of old guys, and now we come here to rehash everything they said." Sokka grumbled.</p><p>"It just helps me to debrief." Zuko explained himself apologetically. "To make sure I'm not misunderstanding or misjudging the Earth Kingdom representatives, if I hear that you two are coming to the same conclusions I am. And if I'm wrong, I'd rather hear it from you than make a fool of myself in there. I'm still kind of new to being a good guy, and my sense of right and wrong might not be fully calibrated yet, especially with an issue this complex. I trust you guys to tell me if I'm off base without creating a diplomatic crisis."</p><p>Aang jumped in. "We're happy to do that for you, Zuko."</p><p>"I mean, you're right that it's complicated," Sokka allowed. "I keep wondering, if some other country took over my village, what I would want to happen a hundred years after that, when the war is finally over?"</p><p>"Do we have to even refer to the original, pre-colonization state of the territories?" Zuko wondered. "What matters is how things are now, and what's right to do now, not how things got this way. I'm afraid that if we try to right historical wrongs, all that we end up doing is encouraging revenge."</p><p>"You're right that the question is what to do going forward, but we can't answer that without a full understanding of what happened in the past." Aang corrected him. "But I will say, for the sake of helping you fine-tune your conscience, I do recognize prejudice, and an impulse toward vengeance in some of the more extreme things Keui's advisors have been saying."</p><p>"Thanks. It's nice to know my instincts aren't that far out of line. I guess I'm just having trouble understanding what delving into the history could accomplish, besides driving the Earth Kingdom to seek revenge on my people." Zuko shrugged, at a loss.</p><p>"Hopefully it could accomplish lasting peace. There is no peace without justice, and justice demands that we acknowledge what happened, no matter how long ago it was." Aang explained serenely.</p><p>"See, this is exactly why I'm so glad you're part of this." Zuko gestured emphatically. "You have a perspective that I feel these talks desperately need. Not only are you neutral, you're committed to nonviolence, and you've suffered far worse than even the Earth Kingdom under colonization. If you say justice does not require sparking a new refugee crisis, everybody kind of has to listen to you. You have this moral authority that goes beyond being the Avatar."</p><p>Aang looked down into his tea sheepishly.</p><p>"No pressure," Sokka joked, grabbing the airbender's shoulder and shaking it playfully. "It's not like it's your job to fix every mistake of the last hundred years all by yourself."</p><p>"No, it's mine." Zuko replied, his mouth a thin, grim line.</p><p>"That's not what I meant," Sokka objected.</p><p>"My great-grandfather started this mess—"</p><p>"Exactly!" Aang interjected. "I—Roku allowed—"</p><p>"I was talking about Sozin." Zuko corrected him. "Failure to prevent a crime doesn't confer the same guilt as actually committing it. Obviously. And besides, you might be all powerful, but I actually have more authority in this situation than you do."</p><p>"But that still doesn't mean you have to do it alone." Sokka reminded him.</p><p>Zuko shot his friend a half-grin. "I appreciate that. Because this is not going to be easy." He took a deep breath and told them his decision. "I want to give up my country's claim on the colonies. I've become convinced it's the right thing to do. But I want to do it in the right moment, in the right way. In fact, I'm afraid to do it at all unless King Keui does the same."</p><p>Sokka shot a glance at Aang. "That's…..going to be a challenge."</p><p>"I know." The young Fire Lord sighed. "But if I just hand over lands that generations of my country's soldiers died to take and hold, to a monarch almost half of my people still see as the enemy, one we had defeated, at least until I ascended the throne and gave our victory away-well, It would create a huge backlash for me at home, to say the least."</p><p>"I think King Keui might be facing the same issue." Aang pointed out. "Those lands are on his continent. They were part of the Earth Kingdom forever, until Sozin."</p><p>"If you and Keui both give up your claim on the colonies, what happens? Who's in charge?" Sokka wondered.</p><p>"I guess that's one of the things we'll have to figure out." Aang answered. "We probably won't get to that question in this round. Tomorrow is the last meeting."</p><p>"Maybe it would be better to make a big announcement like that on your home turf?" Sokka suggested to Zuko.</p><p>_______________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>For the final meeting in the Earth Kingdom, Aang had asked to address the group with a closing statement.</p><p>"When I was a kid, and in Roku's time, the nations didn't mix the way they do now. They pretty much kept to themselves, except for diplomatic meetings like this. The few people who did make lasting friendships across national boundaries were either Avatar's companions or outlaws. But things are different now, and I don't think those kinds of friendships should be discouraged. They've certainly brought a lot of joy into my life. In places like Yu Dao and Cranefish Town, benders and nonbenders of different national origins are forming business partnerships and families. Obviously we can't break up families. That's ridiculous. I don't think anyone here would advocate for that. The issue is just a matter of how to make sure that the more powerful nation isn't taking advantage of the less powerful, that the groups of people are interacting on an equal playing field, and it's hard to ensure that when this all began with colonization."</p><p>Fuchou replied testily, "It's hard to ensure that when the structures and institutions of colonization are still intact, like the colonial governors."</p><p>"That's true." Aang conceded. "It's also true that not a single person from the colonies is here in this room. Why are we making decisions to govern their lives when they don't have a say in it?"</p><p>"Including them is common sense to you and me," Sokka replied. "The Air Nomads were democratic, and in the south, my people elect our leaders. But the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation are monarchies, and you're all used to ruling from on high, without asking citizens to weigh in on policy."</p><p>"Fair point, Sokka." Zuko jumped in before the Earth Kingdom people could express offense. "That's why I'd like to invite some representatives from the colonies to the next round of discussions, in the Fire Nation. They certainly should have some input on these decisions."</p><p>When the final meeting ended, the group still hadn't agreed on much beyond interim steps. Zuko's limited resettlement program and the appeals court were just about the only concrete outcomes. They would meet again in the Fire Nation in a few weeks.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Disclaimer: The issues of colonization presented in ATLA and LOK have some parallels in our world, but they are not exactly analogous. This chapter is not meant to convey support for any particular policy regarding peoples and places that were colonized in real life. I am constrained in my writing here with being faithful to LOK canon. Is the solution presented by the ATLA comics and LOK the best one for former colonies in real life? I don't know! In fact, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that colonizers should get to stay just because they've been in a place for a while. That's partly why I wrote it so that those in the Earth Kingdom who want to simply retake the colonies and reabsorb them into their country are at least partly motivated by racism, xenophobia, and a kind of 'anti-immigrant' sentiment. So there is some 'wrong' on both sides in the story in a way that is not as true in any real life situation that is at all similar. I just hope I've been at least somewhat sensitive in this presentation. And this fic will explore these issues further; this is not the final resolution. Later chapters will hopefully add more nuance.</p><p>In this AU, I've changed events from the graphic novel canon (especially The Promise) so that Aang doesn't need a battle and a heartfelt plea from Katara to remember that separation is an illusion. In the comics the "Harmony Restoration Movement" was presented much more positively than I present it here. Also, since Zuko isn't visiting his dad and getting evil little whispers in his ear, and is instead having nice teatime chats with Aang and Sokka, he isn't anywhere near declaring war over the colonies. Bonus: Mai doesn't dump him either! Because really, instead of asking his pacifist friend to kill him, Zuko just needs to keep Aang and the Gaang close so he can continue to learn from them, and then he'll never turn into his father.</p><p>This is some sensitive stuff, and I really hope I haven't offended anyone or made any big missteps or mistakes here. I apologize deeply if my ignorance has been hurtful in any way.</p><p>Let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Healing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: Kataang fans, this chapter might make you worried for a second, but just trust me on this one and keep going. All will be well. Kataang is endgame.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko was packing up in his room in the Earth King's palace, getting ready to return to the Fire Nation, when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he called, assuming it was a servant or messenger.</p><p>"Hi, Zuko," He heard Katara's voice and turned around. "Um, is Mai around?"</p><p>"No, she's with Ty Lee. Getting in as much time as she can before we leave. Did you want to see her?"</p><p>"No, I wanted to see you alone before you left." She came close, and pulled an amulet out of her neckline.</p><p>It looked familiar. "Is that..."</p><p>"Water from the Spirit Oasis in the North. I've been saving it for something important. Like freeing you from your mark." She had a small smile on her face, as she held in front of him something that he'd longed for, for the better part of four years.</p><p>Zuko thought of the way his face always caught people's eyes, the way he'd been shunned and ridiculed, the pain of the burn itself and the worse pain of being hurt on purpose by his own father. Then he thought of what he'd overcome, the core of resilience he'd found within him once he'd stopped trying to follow the path his father had laid out and made his own way, how he'd rejected everything he'd been taught about the world and chosen humility and kindness. Everyone who'd seen him wandering the Earth Kingdom in rags had assumed he'd been just another one of the countless victims of the Fire Nation; it had taken him a laughably long time to accept that was true. His banishment had sent him on a journey that eventually made him into a better man than he would have been otherwise. At first his melted red skin had been for him a mark of being scorned and rejected; now it was just another battle scar, like the one on his chest. His understanding of the meaning of honor had changed, so that a mark that once shamed him now had a completely different significance. If he erased his scar, would he also erase everything he'd learned since that Agni Kai?</p><p>Zuko shook his head slowly, and gave his answer. "This scar is a part of me now. I don't mind it anymore."</p><p>Katara smiled. "I guessed you might say that, but I still wanted to offer you a second chance. I thought maybe the scar wouldn't bother you so much if you had the choice. If you weren't stuck with it, but decided to keep it."</p><p>"I appreciate that. And it does help. Just now, knowing I could get rid of it, I realized I don't want to anymore." He was deeply touched by the gesture. It felt like they had come full circle. "Did I ever thank you for forgiving me?"</p><p>"Not in so many words. I knew how relieved you were when I stopped being so cold and threatening. I wish I'd done it sooner. Aang was right, forgiving feels better than carrying a grudge. Did I ever thank you for changing? For doing the right thing in the end?"</p><p>"That was its own reward. I don't need to be thanked for not being horrible."</p><p>"Still, I know it was hard for you. You had to go against everything you'd been taught. You had to give up on your father ever loving you—I can't imagine how much that must have hurt."</p><p>"Less than trying for years to win his love and always failing, as I discovered."</p><p>"You know that was his fault, right?" Her brow was furrowed, and she spoke firmly, as if it were important to her that he understand this point. "Because he wasn't capable of loving anyone, not because you weren't lovable."</p><p>"I know that now." He nodded. "Uncle taught me that. And Mai, and Aang, and you. Regardless, it was a childish reason to do things that were so hurtful to so many people. I could have been happier sooner if I'd had the strength to acknowledge his abuse for what it was, instead of blaming myself for not being good enough to deserve better treatment. I let my desperation for parental affection fuel a futile quest that left a wake of destruction behind me."</p><p>"It makes me so sad to think of you like that, a hurt boy looking for love in the wrong place." It also made her feel guilty for not forgiving him more quickly and easily. How could she not have understood?</p><p>"I found the right place eventually." Zuko assured her. "Several places, really." It occurred to him that he was looking at one of them.</p><p>"I'm glad. I've wondered sometimes, if Aang and Iroh had been just ten minutes later finding us, and I'd actually used the water and healed you, maybe that would have sealed the deal, and you would have chosen differently."</p><p>"I shouldn't have needed that. My uncle's reasoning should have been enough. I should have known never to trust Azula. I knew what our soldiers were doing to the Earth Kingdom, and I chose to cooperate with that. It makes me feel sick now. I've thought about it so many times, how things might have been different if I'd done the right thing then."</p><p>"We would probably still have been defeated, and you'd only have been jailed with your uncle. There were so many Dai Li agents..." She shook her head. "You're a great firebender, but I don't think even you could have turned the tide. Azula just outmaneuvered us. Please don't beat yourself up about it anymore."</p><p>"It's a good thing you didn't waste the spirit water on me. You needed it to heal Aang. And that's why you should save it now, for an emergency." He gestured to his face. "This is just...cosmetic."</p><p>Katara sighed. "You're right." She weighed the phial in her hand. It was heavier than it looked. "I had this idea that if I use it up, then that will ensure that everyone will always be safe, and I'll never need it. But I know it doesn't really work like that." She tucked it back under the top of her dress. "Well, goodbye for now. We'll see you in the Fire Nation soon."</p><p>She came close for a hug, her hands on his shoulders. They held each other long enough for him to notice the saltwater scent of her hair. As she pulled away, Katara kissed Zuko's cheek, right on the place where his scar met untouched skin. Her lips were deliberate, unmistakable, but didn't linger. She quickly stepped back, putting proper distance between them. He looked at her in surprise, touching the spot.</p><p>"Tell Mai I'm looking forward to seeing her in the palace." Her head tilted down shyly, but she wasn't blushing as she turned to leave.</p><p>Zuko sat down, stunned, and stayed still for a few minutes, pondering their conversation. He was pretty sure Katara hadn't meant that kiss in a romantic way. She wouldn't have mentioned his girlfriend like that if she had, right? It was only on the cheek. She had made sure they were alone, which might have been suspicious, but it was a very private issue she'd wanted to discuss, after all. He was sure she and Aang were deeply attached; she would never hurt her boyfriend like that.</p><p>Nevertheless, assuming it was totally innocent, he found that her kiss meant a lot to him. It showed that she knew him well enough to offer to heal him, to give him a chance to reclaim what his father had taken, and choose to own his face, scar and all. She'd even absolved him once again of his betrayal. It seemed to be her way to say she cared about him, that she understood his story, beginning to end, and accepted him. Despite everything he'd done, she found him worthy. He was overcome with gratitude, almost as much as when his uncle had forgiven him in his tent outside this city.</p><p>Zuko suddenly had a terrifying thought, one with the potential to blow up his life, and that of almost everyone he cared about: he realized he loved Katara. Did that mean he was attracted to her? Objectively speaking, she was attractive. Beautiful, even. He couldn't deny that holding her felt nice, and her lips had been soft on his cheek, but he hadn't noticed any desire to prolong that embrace or to kiss her back. Or had that just been because he'd been so shocked? No, he wasn't interested in her in that way now, but he thought if he paid her the right kind of attention, or if they were thrown together under the right circumstances, an attraction could easily develop. On his side, anyway; he had no idea about hers. For a second he wondered, if there had been no Mai, and no Aang, and he and Katara had met in a different, happier world, how might that have played out? He shook his head. At best they might have had a short, torrid fling, and then hated each other with equal passion when it inevitably imploded.</p><p>Because in the end, he and Katara simply weren't compatible. Their similarities and differences were aligned in a way that would guarantee constant conflict. They both had a hot temper and single-minded determination, but their emotional dispositions and worldviews were almost completely opposite. Way back before the comet, she'd told everyone he wasn't her type, and he'd said the same. That hadn't changed. Even when they hung out together in a group, Zuko occasionally found her relentless positivity irritating; he imagined it would become unbearable if they spent too much time together. Katara probably felt the same way about his tendency to be morose and overdramatic. Besides, the way they had met-he couldn't imagine a more toxic beginning to a love affair. Of course, some people were into that, the same people who'd thought the bondage scene in The Boy in the Iceberg was sexy. But what was hot in a scene and what was healthy in an actual relationship were not necessarily the same thing. He felt reassured to know that at this point he still had complete control over his feelings, and could choose not to let them grow in the wrong direction. He could make the honorable, sane decision to focus his romantic attention on Mai, his beloved girlfriend who'd put her life and good name on the line for him.</p><p>Zuko was discovering that there were many different types of love, and what he felt for Katara was the brotherly kind. That didn't make it any less real or powerful. Despite their history, it felt much safer and deeper than any warm feeling he'd ever held toward Azula. He could let his guard down with the waterbender and be vulnerable, in a way that had only ever invited vicious attack from his birth sister. If he could keep their bond unsullied by desire, his friendship with Katara could last, and become one of the most meaningful connections of his life, if it wasn't already. He knew he would put his life on the line for Katara—he had twice before, though back then he hadn't articulated why even to himself. His body had known before he had, and chosen for him automatically. That was yet another thing to be grateful for. He took a moment to say a prayer of thanks, though it was something he did only rarely. Finally he shook his head in wonder and resumed packing.</p><p>Another knock. "Ready to go, Sifu Hotman?" Aang's bright voice surprised him at the door.</p><p>As soon as he turned around and saw his friend, Zuko' peace was disturbed by guilty recollections of the thoughts he'd just entertained, even briefly, about the airbender's girlfriend. He couldn't help nervously blurting out a confession. "Katara just kissed me. Right here." He pointed to the spot on his cheek, at the bottom of his scar. "That's all. It felt like a brother-sister thing to me, and I think that's how she meant it." He held his hands up, as if to show he was unarmed.</p><p>"Then why do you need to tell me?" Aang wondered, nonplussed.</p><p>"I don't know. That stupid play. Rumors." He looked down, afraid to say more. He'd thought that Aang might have had some of the same ideas about him and Katara that Mai had briefly imagined, though they'd never discussed it explicitly. He still remembered the way the boy had glared at him over Katara's shoulder in the crystal catacombs, as if to say, 'Mine! Hands off!'</p><p>"I'm not worried about that, Zuko. I know what it's like between you two. I trust you both." The younger boy assured him, the picture of serenity.</p><p>Zuko took a deep breath, relaxing. "That's a relief. I would not want to fight you now."</p><p>Aang chuckled. "You think that would put me into the Avatar state?"</p><p>Zuko glanced to the side quizzically. "Wouldn't it?"</p><p>Aang shook his head. "If anyone hurt Katara, that would do it. But if you two ever...got together... Mai is the one who would kill you, not me. I'd just...crawl into a hole." He stared into that abyss for a second. Then he brightened suddenly, as if a funny thought had just occurred to him. "I guess she's owed you a kiss for a while."</p><p>"What?" The young Fire Lord could not have been more surprised by this reaction.</p><p>"Remember when I fought you at the abbey to get back Katara's necklace? When I gave it to her, she kissed me on the cheek and said to pass it on to you, but I never did." The airbender's eyes were twinkling with suppressed mirth.</p><p>"I'm sure she didn't really mean….." For an instant Zuko was afraid Aang was going to kiss him too. He felt like his friend was making fun of him, and of course he deserved it. Better to just play along. "She was probably just looking for an excuse to kiss you."</p><p>"Maybe. It was our first kiss. If you count one that's just on the cheek."</p><p>If he said that, yes, it counted, then today's kiss would have to matter as well, and neither of them wanted it to, not in the same way. Zuko left that question to one side. "I'm….glad my villainy brought you together. And that you know that you have nothing to worry about with Katara. I guess you've never seen the way she looks when she talks about you. She's just….radiant."</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>"It's like she's a recent convert to a new religion, spreading the good news."</p><p>Aang's smile grew so wide it looked like his face might break, and he brought one hand to his heart, as if he could hold this information there and treasure it.</p><p>"Now, see, you're doing the same thing." Zuko informed him, amused. "No one is ever going to come between you two."</p><p>"These fangirls keep trying," Aang told him, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Just on the way here, some girl grabbed my hand and asked me how far my tattoos go."</p><p>"Well, you won't have to deal with that quite as much when you join me in the Fire Nation. Even the people who support you don't have the same…..patriotic fervor as they do here. This is the kingdom you saved, and mine is the one you fought off. You're more likely to encounter a booing crowd. I'm the one who needs to be careful about fangirls around Caldera."</p><p>"What does Mai think of that?"</p><p>"She hates it, of course. Those girls are really disrespecting her. I mean, our relationship is public—it's a little scandalous since we're basically living together…..Which should make it all the more clear that I'm serious about her, but unfortunately it also lends an air of disrepute to the whole thing. Some people think she's basically my mistress, and I'm going to just put her aside when I get bored. That I'll eventually pick someone else based on which clan I need to get on my side at a crucial political moment. Unfortunately, that's exactly what a few of my forefathers did…." Zuko paused. He had the urge to confide something he'd kept to himself for months. "But actually, Mai and I….we're kind of, almost engaged."</p><p>"Whoa! That's wonderful, Zuko!" Aang's face lit up and suddenly the Fire Lord was wrapped in a hug. "When did that happen?"</p><p>"When she first moved in to the palace." Zuko found himself feeling pleased and puffed up with pride. It felt good to share this news and to get congratulated. Holding it in for so long had not been easy.</p><p>"That was forever ago! Why didn't you tell us then?"</p><p>"Because it's more than unofficial, it's unspoken. Please don't tell anyone."</p><p>"What does that mean?" Aang looked confused.</p><p>"That since Mai has already ruined her reputation for me, I promised to marry her eventually. I'm planning to make it official when she turns 18. And I know that if I don't follow through, I'll probably find myself skewered by some very sharp knives."</p><p>"I don't doubt it. And still those fangirls pester you." The Avatar shook his head. "They obviously have no clue how scary your girlfriend is!"</p><p>"Or yours!" Zuko laughed. "I'm afraid I've been pretty rude to some of the girls a few times. It makes me so mad to see Mai getting hurt and insulted just because she picked me."</p><p>"Katara wishes I'd do that more often."</p><p>"I can imagine that." He quirked a grin. "We must be the two most unlikely guys to get a bunch of girls hanging all over us, right? Short, bald, scarred, awkward….."</p><p>"It would be flattering, except it's all about the title, not about me as a person."</p><p>"Exactly! All these girls care about is having a royal wedding and wearing the Fire Lady's jewels. It's so funny that you're the only person who gets it…. "</p><p>"Maybe when you're hosting the colony talks, you can make sure there's no way for screaming crowds of girls to see us. King Keui put us in that room with windows right over the square, and they were so loud we could barely hear each other…"</p><p>"Good idea. I'll put my assistant on it." Zuko held out his hand. "See you in Caldera?"</p><p>Aang used the hand to pull his friend in for a hug. "See you soon, buddy."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Authors's note: because the best way to take down a non-canon ship is to tease it, and have the characters themselves explain why they're deciding against a pairing that would be out of character for them.</p><p>If you're intrigued at the idea of this Maiko almost-engagement, I have a whole story I'm working on to let you know how that happened. Stay tuned!</p><p>Next week, I hope you're ready for a long chapter about Katara's birthday! 10,000 words of pure Kataang fluff. Hit subscribe so you get an email when it drops!</p><p>Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought of Zuko's thoughts on his FRIENDSHIP with Katara, and Aang's reaction/nonreaction. Your comments are what keep me going!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Sixteen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the morning of Katara's birthday, Aang snuck into her room as soon as he was finished with his morning stretch and meditation. She always slept a little later; he wanted to catch her when she was still asleep, but not to wake her too much before her normal time. He wanted to pick just the right moment. Good, she was still sleeping, only her head peeking out of the blankets. She looked so cute. He knelt by the side of her bed and leaned over. He was a little nervous, but she'd said this was ok on the solstice. He brushed her lips with his, soft as a feather. Three quick kisses, short sideways nips and a little lick at the indentation in the middle of her upper lip. Her eyes finally opened and crossed to see how close he was. She frowned until her eyes adjusted and she recognized him, then smiled lazily.</p><p>"Good morning. Happy birthday." He whispered.</p><p>Her smile grew big and brilliant. She scooted away from him on the bed and patted the pillow beside her head. "Come here."</p><p>Delighted, he stretched himself out beside her, lying on top of the blanket that still covered her. He lay on his side, appreciating seeing her from this angle, how close they were, her hair that somehow looked even more beautiful when it was messed up like it was now. He couldn't resist smoothing it down a little.</p><p>"You said last year you tried to wake me with a kiss on your birthday, so…."</p><p>"So this year you did that for me instead. Perfect." Her hand appeared from under the covers and covered one of his. She turned on her side to face him, mirroring. "I've already gone from the worst birthday of my life to the best, and I'm not even out of bed yet."</p><p>Tentatively, Aang put one hand on her side. Was that her hip or waist? It curved in a way that made him want to touch it more, but he kept it still to be proper. As proper as it was possible to be when lying down in a bed next to a gorgeous girl who probably wasn't wearing very much. Proper or not, it felt so nice lying here with her, starting the day together like this.</p><p>"We could just lie here all day," Katara murmured, as if she'd read his mind.</p><p>"We could," he agreed.</p><p>"But you have a look in your eye like you've planned something."</p><p>"I did have a few ideas."</p><p>"Like?"</p><p>"There's a new restaurant that's serving Water Tribe food in the middle ring. I asked Sokka and Suki and Toph to meet us there for dinner."</p><p>"Sounds great!"</p><p>"And there are some presents."</p><p>"Some! One is more than enough!"</p><p>"I seem to remember you gave me fifteen presents for my birthday."</p><p>"None of which you still have with you."</p><p>"Every kiss from you is sealed in my heart forever," he touched his chest, his tone exaggerating the mushy sentiment in a way that made it both a joke and totally sincere at the same time.</p><p>"Oh, I'll gladly accept kisses as presents. But maybe not just sixteen."</p><p>"You said I was greedy when I wanted 114."</p><p>"That's just because I didn't want to call you old. I thought that might hurt your feelings."</p><p>"Being called old doesn't bother me. I know I'm remarkably well-preserved. If owning my true age will earn me a hundred more kisses from you, I'll gladly be a centenarian."</p><p>"I'll keep that in mind for your next birthday."</p><p>"Enough about my birthday. Today is your day."</p><p>"You don't have any meetings?"</p><p>"My schedule is clear to do whatever you want today."</p><p>"I want water." Katara said emphatically. "Not just the fountains here in town, real water. This city is nothing but stone."</p><p>"Lake Laogai is pretty close, and it's big." Aang suggested carefully, "but I know we have some bad history there."</p><p>She sighed. "That's ok. We won't go to the underground tunnels. They're gone anyway. We can just stay on the lake surface and the beach. Best to put it behind us and reclaim that place. Think Appa can fly us there?"</p><p>"Sure!" A ride on Appa might mean she wanted to kiss and cuddle. And it was a big city; the flight from their house in the upper ring to the lake on the outskirts of town would not be short. "Want me to pack us a lunch and get Appa ready? You can take your time getting out of bed." He started to get up, but her hand held his.</p><p>"Stay here for a minute," Katara pleaded. Happy to comply, he lay back down beside her. They scooted a little closer and he tentatively draped one arm around her, over the covers. She nuzzled her forehead under his chin until he snaked his bottom arm under the pillow and around her shoulders.</p><p>"It's going to be a great day," she murmured into his neck.</p><p>Aang left the bed first, so that she could get dressed and he could start breakfast. When Katara emerged, she was wearing a loose wrap dress he recognized from Ember Island. She used to wear it over her swimsuit. Joining him in the dining room, she found a large arrangement of flowers on the table: yellow tea roses and blue hydrangeas. There was a card attached. Katara picked it up, read it and smiled. She handed it to Aang when she was finished.</p><p>The card read: "Dear Katara, Mai and I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I'm sure Aang and the others will have a lot of fun planned for you. Looking forward to seeing you soon at the palace. Many happy returns! Your brother, Zuko"</p><p>"I gave Zuko a kiss on the cheek when I said goodbye to him the other day." She explained to him. "We were talking about….everything, his choices, and I was just really proud of him, you know? I was a little worried he might have misunderstood it for a minute, and thought I was coming on to him or something, but here in his card, he's very careful to lay out exactly what our relationship is. He mentions both of our significant others, and signs it 'your brother.' It's kind of funny. I'm glad he didn't take it the wrong way, but maybe I made him uncomfortable, if he feels he has to overcorrect like this. Maybe he's not used to…..people showing him affection."</p><p>"Zuko told me about it himself, actually." Aang informed her. "It was like he was afraid I was going to murder him, and thought his best chance for survival was a full confession."</p><p>"Mai's the one he should be afraid of!" Katara laughed. "She'd go after me too, I guess. If we had really….done something, that is."</p><p>"That's what I said! Especially because-well, I said I wouldn't tell anyone, but I can't keep a secret from you, not today. Zuko told me he and Mai are almost engaged."</p><p>She squinted and wrinkled her nose. "What's that mean? I'd think, either you are, or you aren't."</p><p>"I wasn't sure about that either." The airbender tilted his head to the side, glad she shared his puzzlement. "He also said it was unspoken, which, again, makes no sense. Doesn't getting engaged require a conversation?"</p><p>"Uh, yeah! You grew up in a society without marriage, and you understand it better than a guy with two married parents. Although they must have been a bad example…"</p><p>"I guess so. I understand that important things need to be spoken." Aang realized this was actually a decent opening to the conversation he'd been hoping to start for a while. He took her hand, gathering his courage.</p><p>But rather than taking the hint that her boyfriend wanted to switch the topic to their own relationship, Katara kept her focus on their gossip about their firebending friend. "Maybe I should have said right out to Zuko, 'This is just a friendly kiss on the cheek. I do not want to mess up your relationship or mine.' "</p><p>"He knew that." The Avatar assured her, feeling the thread of the discussion move away from where he'd been getting ready to take it. But he did want his girlfriend to know that their friend had understood her intention. "He said he thought you meant it as a brother-sister thing."</p><p>"I did." She nodded, relieved, then gave him a flirty smile. "I don't give Sokka kisses on the cheek, and when I kissed you on the cheek, it wasn't sisterly, but that one truly was."</p><p>"I believe you. I think it's nice that two people I care about, care about each other. And that it's hilarious that you both wanted to confess such a non-event to me."</p><p>"Doesn't that build trust? If I'm honest with you about small matters, you know I'll tell you the truth when there are real stakes?"</p><p>"I suppose so. I should be grateful." Aang kissed her on the cheek, which made both of them giggle.</p><p>"Was that brotherly?" Katara asked playfully.</p><p>"No," he answered, kissing her other cheek. "I thought about doing that sometimes. Before the comet. Just a peck right there." He stroked her cheekbone with a fingertip. "To see what happened. You'd done it to me first, after all, so you couldn't have been too offended, even if you didn't like me the same way. I could have passed it off as a friendly gesture if it flopped."</p><p>"Why didn't you?"</p><p>"Never had the guts. Or never thought of it in the right moment. It was one of those things I would think about at night, like that was when I should have tried it! But it probably wouldn't have changed much, would it?"</p><p>"I guess not." She shrugged, smiling ruefully.</p><p>"That's ok. But I did miss out. I had no idea how soft your cheek was." He lightly rubbed his cheek against hers. He could feel her eyelashes flutter closed as she savored their closeness, her hands touching his sides for balance. "I would have given anything just for a moment like this. Even if that was all that happened." He whispered.</p><p>"I'm sure I would have enjoyed it." She murmured, continuing to brush his cheek with hers, before turning her head to sweep her jawbone against his lips.</p><p>Aang realized that if he didn't put a stop to it, they would end up kissing for hours here in the dining room, and he had plans for the day. "Can we continue this conversation once we're on Appa's back?" He proposed. "I want to be sure we have plenty of time at the lake, and make it back for our dinner reservation."</p><p>"You're not usually the schedule master. That's Sokka's job." She teased.</p><p>"Well, Sokka's not here. Good thing too. He'd be all 'oogie, oogie, oogie' right now."</p><p>"I know." She rolled her eyes. "Even though he's back with Suki now, and they're so much worse than we are."</p><p>"True. Here." He extricated himself reluctantly from her loose embrace and put a plate down on the table. "Eat this while I pack the saddle." He gave her one more kiss on the temple as she sat down, and bustled away to gather snacks and supplies.</p><p>_________________________________________________________</p><p>On Lake Laogai, they surfed, and raced each other all the way around the circumference, and practiced waterbending forms. Katara played with the octopus form, wondering if she could invent a variation with even more water tentacles. When she got frustrated with that, she asked Aang to stand with her, back to back, and see if they could each raise the octopus, and if the simulated creatures would be combined because they were so close together. That worked: they created a sixteen-tentacled water monster, but it didn't last because she was so delighted with their accomplishment that she turned around and hugged him, making the water crash back down as they lost concentration. Then they decided to see how high they could get the water to carry them up in a column. The answer was high enough to see over the city walls, but they couldn't measure it more precisely than that. Appa saw them balanced up in the air and flew to them, breaking the water column and catching them in his saddle.</p><p>Finally, exhausted in a way they hadn't been since arriving in the city, the couple sat in the shallow water, side by side, looking out at the lake, shimmering in the midday sun. Aang bent the rocky ground beneath the water to make low chairs so they could recline, mostly submerged in the warm lake, their fingers and toes already wrinkled. They were quiet there a long time, just feeling the water lapping at their legs, and the sun on their faces. The airbender glanced at his girlfriend, and caught his breath at the beauty of her brown skin against her white bathing suit, her wet hair curling around her ears and swaying slightly in the breeze.</p><p>The stillness of the day and the setting made Aang remember what had happened over a year earlier, not far beneath the place where they were sitting. It was a troubling memory, one he worried might pain her even more than it did him. They'd never really talked about it, and maybe she would need to at some point. Though he didn't want to stir up sad feelings on her day, he supposed now was as good a time as any.</p><p>"Do you think about him often?" Aang asked softly.</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>"Jet."</p><p>"Oh. No." Katara brought her knees up and hugged them. "I feel bad when I do, so I don't."</p><p>"Why do you feel bad?" Her boyfriend wondered. "You didn't do anything wrong."</p><p>"I treated him so badly when we met him again in the city. I didn't trust him, and it turned out he really was trying to help us. And then…." She trailed off.</p><p>"He lied to us before." Aang reminded her. "It made sense for you not to trust him. And it turned out he was being controlled by the Dai Li. Not that that was his fault, of course."</p><p>"I don't like thinking about Jet because I could have saved him and didn't. It just didn't even occur to me to use the spirit water on him. You were….farther gone than he was when I used it on you, and I was willing to waste that rare healing magic on what I was afraid was a lost cause because I simply could not give up on the tiny chance it would bring you back." Katara took a deep, shaky breath to recover from remembering that harrowing moment. "But I walked away from Jet while he was still breathing, just because I didn't-because he didn't matter to me the way you do. That wasn't fair to him. His life had value, maybe not as much value to the world as yours, but as a healer that's not my call to make." She stated adamantly, even vehemently. "I should always use every tool at my disposal to help anyone I can, and that day I fell short of my responsibility."</p><p>Aang was moved by the emotion Katara displayed as she recalled nearly losing him, and by her strong sense of her ethical duty as a healer. But she seemed to be carrying a disproportionate amount of guilt, and he wanted to take that burden from her if he could. He touched her elbow, and she let go of her knees with that hand, joining it with his under the water.</p><p>"Long Feng killed Jet, not you. Just because you might have had the ability to save him, doesn't mean his death is your fault." He tried to match her conviction in his voice. "It must have been meant to happen that way. I'm sorry Jet had to die, but I can't fault you for withholding the spirit water when it was what kept me in this world. Maybe that was part of Jet's sacrifice, even if he didn't know it. He gave up both his life and his chance to be healed, so that we could get Appa back and so I could eventually end the war. He would have been happy to make that trade. He was resigned to it, glad to go down like a warrior. That was why he sent you away with a smile, rather than begging you to save him. It was one of the bravest things I've ever seen." Aang felt grateful to the lost freedom fighter in a new way; he'd never connected Jet's death with Katara's healing him before.</p><p>"Were you jealous of him? When we first met him?" She wondered.</p><p>He had been, but hindsight, and, yes, triumph, made him view the angst and frustration of that time with a strange nostalgia. Aang could appreciate the appeal the charismatic young leader must have had for a naïve girl like Katara had been a year and a half ago. It had been completely natural for her to notice Jet and overlook her goofy, bald little friend. The memory didn't bother him at all; it was just another part of the beautiful story that ended in this moment.</p><p>"He was so charming. And older, and taller." He shot his girlfriend a sad, crooked smile of understanding. "It made sense that you would be attracted to him. He took you up into his treehouse on those vines. It must have been pretty romantic."</p><p>She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know nothing happened between me and Jet."</p><p>"Really?" He was surprised. "I thought- Toph said-"</p><p>"I know. I guess my heart was racing because it was true I did had a crush on him, for a couple days, and then my feelings were even stronger seeing him again because I was still so angry about the way he manipulated us. I should have given him a second chance, but I realized that too late. He was on the right side, in the end." She sighed. "That was one of the reasons why, when Zuko started talking about his mom in the Crystal Catacombs, I…softened toward him. I gave him the second chance I regretted not giving Jet, and then it hurt even more when he….did what he did. I felt doubly foolish."</p><p>"That's why you dug in hard and refused to give him a third chance when he showed up at the Western Air Temple." Aang realized.</p><p>"I was just so sick of being taken advantage of. It made me swing too far to the other side and turn cynical."</p><p>"That's understandable. But it did make me sad to see it. More for your sake than for Zuko's."</p><p>"It messed with my head, that I could be taken in like that. Twice! I felt like I couldn't trust my instincts about people, my feelings of attraction."</p><p>"These untrustworthy guys, pushing you back and forth." Aang shook his head, a wry, regretful half smile on his face. "No wonder you were so confused." It had never occurred to him that that moment on the theater balcony might not have only been about him; this more complete explanation was a bit of a comfort.</p><p>She tilted her head to the side. It seemed he may have misunderstood her, or made the wrong connection between her words today and in the past. "But, Aang, you were never confusing like that. You were my rock, my constant. If I ever felt conflicted about you, it was only because of the situation."</p><p>"I thought of you that way too." He was moved to hear that he'd somehow helped her through their adventures the same way she had helped him. "I couldn't have done any of it without you."</p><p>"We've always been there for each other." She squeezed his fingers, still linked with hers under the water. "That's why I'm glad you were my first kiss. In the cave. I probably would have let Jet kiss me if he'd tried, but I'm glad he didn't because I would have felt so sullied by it after he used us to try to flood that village. With you it was sweet and special."</p><p>"You know you're the only person I've ever kissed. I wasn't even interested in girls—or boys-before I got frozen, and then after you woke me up, you were the only one I could see. That moment in the cave was special." Though it seemed they didn't think of kisses in exactly the same way, it meant a lot to him to know that she'd chosen him for what was evidently an honor, especially since she had been the one to suggest it. What mattered to Aang wasn't whether that brief kiss in the cave had been her first, second, or fiftieth, but that it had been their first, together, and that had made it perfect. That difference probably wasn't really worth quibbling over. But something else she'd said bothered him, and he wanted to address it, even if it was a little awkward. "But you know, kissing someone, even the wrong person, or…doing more, doesn't ever make anyone dirty. If you had kissed Jet, I wouldn't have minded, not in the long run. There's nothing you could do that would make me think you were sullied."</p><p>"Is that the way the Air Nomads thought of it?" Katara wondered.</p><p>"I guess so." It seemed to him like a self-evident truth, and there was only one place he could have learned such an attitude.</p><p>"That sounds a little different from what Gran Gran told me. She always said a girl should save herself and keep pure so that when the right man came along, she would be….whole."</p><p>Aang frowned. That perspective was so alien he barely even understood it. "How could you ever be less than whole?" He wondered, mystified. "Every girl, or boy, for that matter, is always a complete person, regardless of any experiences they have or don't have. There's nothing bad or wrong or shameful about kissing, or even sex, nothing that ever marks you or makes you impure."</p><p>She nodded thoughtfully. "I think I like your way of looking at it. It's more accepting. More forgiving. I agree that these things are natural, and that it's not right for guys and girls to be held to different standards. It just….. feels a little odd to me that you seem to be arguing that it would have been ok for me to kiss, or do more than that, with Jet, before you and I got together."</p><p>She was right that it was an odd stance for him to take. He backtracked a little and tried to explain. "Well, I guess all I'm saying is that I wouldn't have thought less of you for it, and I question the basis for anyone thinking that way. I had assumed you and Jet did kiss, and I didn't care. If something happened with another guy now, that would be different, because we've agreed to be exclusive, but I'm not worried about that."</p><p>"Good. You shouldn't be. You've spoiled me for all other guys."</p><p>"That's been my plan all along." He grinned rakishly at her. "Speaking of spoiling you, there are some things at the house I want to give you."</p><p>"My birthday presents? You got me way too many, didn't you?"</p><p>"Maybe. I don't really have a sense of what's appropriate for birthday gifts. It's my first time giving any. You'll have to let me know if it's too much."</p><p>"So I could be really greedy and tell you that your gigantic pile of packages isn't enough, and you should do better next year, and you wouldn't know the difference?"</p><p>"I really wouldn't. I'd just keep giving you more and more every year, until you told me to stop. But luckily for me, I don't think you're greedy like that."</p><p>"Not unless you're going to give me the same thing I gave you," she said suggestively.</p><p>"An ice sculpture?" He played dumb.</p><p>"No, silly." She leaned over and kissed him.</p><p>The idea of her ravenous for his kisses made him just as eager to appease her, and if she was, in fact, insatiable, all the better. "You can have as many kisses as you want, but I wasn't considering them as part of your present. I had a bit more time to prepare for your birthday than you did for mine. And, you know, I wasn't counting, but I'm sure we hit sixteen on the way over here. If you've had enough waterbending for the day, you could open your gifts before dinner."</p><p>"I think I have. Thanks for taking me here. This place doesn't belong to the Dai Li anymore."</p><p>_________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Aang didn't have a lot of experience buying presents for people. The previous year had been too hectic for celebrations like this, and the only gifts he'd given or received at the air temple were pies. He'd hounded Sokka for ideas and made him go shopping with him, but the older boy had just spent the time looking at bags and weapons he wanted for himself. Aang had ended up spending most of his Earth Rumble money to get Katara one of everything he had noticed her appreciating or enjoying recently— a hair clip, a new dress, her favorite candied fruits,-and a few things that he imagined she would find useful or nice to have-a new, larger water pouch made of oiled canvas instead of leather, a big book on anatomy from the university bookstore. And there was one thing he'd made himself: a little stone sculpture of the symbol for water, modeled off the ice sculpture she'd made him. It was only about the size of her hand, so it would be small enough to pack and bring with them on their travels. She seemed overwhelmed by the abundance of presents, and he was afraid he'd overdone it. He remembered how she'd described birthdays in her village as occasionally meager affairs. He had probably given her more presents than she'd ever gotten in her life. It was kind of ironic for a nonmaterialistic former monk, but at the same time, that was exactly why—he was still figuring out how to participate in another culture's customs, so he overcompensated for not knowing exactly how her tradition worked, erring on the side of excess rather than too little.</p><p>As Katara opened each gift, she exclaimed over it and thanked him. Aang saved one for last. He didn't know what it was. He'd just opened the package from the South Pole and seen the envelope and small rectangular box inside, and left them sealed, so that she could be the one to open it. She began with the envelope, turning around in his arms and leaning back into him, inviting him to read over her shoulder. He recognized his own handwriting on the first paper, and blushed when he realized what her father had done.</p><p>Dear Hakoda,</p><p>When we celebrated the winter solstice in Senlin Village, I told Katara how the Air Nomads used to mark everyone's birthdays on the solstices. She made me an ice sculpture, and Sokka and Toph gave me a flint boomerang, and we had a great vegetarian feast with the whole village. Then she told me how your family celebrated birthdays when she was growing up in the South. We really learned a lot about each other's cultures and childhoods.</p><p>Now Katara's birthday is coming up, and I want to do something nice for her, but I think what she wants most of all, I can't give her. She told me how special her mother used to make her feel on her birthday. Of course I know how much she misses her mother all of the time, but I think it might be a little bit harder on her birthday, a day that should be special, not sad. So I thought, if you could send her any kind of keepsake, or anything that could remind Katara of her mom, or even if you could just write down a story and send it in a letter, that might help her have a great birthday. We're planning to be in Ba Sing Se on that day, so I hope you can send me a letter or package there, and I'll give it to her with your love.</p><p>I heard Zuko invited you to the palace for the anniversary celebration, so I hope you can make it and we can see you there. I know Katara misses you.</p><p>Say hi to Karik for me and tell him to keep practicing!</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>Aang</p><p>When she finished reading, Katara looked over her shoulder at him, touched at how well he knew her. "Oh, Aang." He saw her eyes shining with feeling for just an instant before she turned eagerly to the other letter.</p><p>Dear Katara,</p><p>Happy birthday! It's only your second birthday away from home, and I just hope it's better than the first.</p><p>I'm enclosing Aang's letter to me so that he can show it to you first, because I thought it might make you smile to know what a thoughtful boyfriend you have.</p><p>These gloves were a present I had made for your mother when you were a baby. She was struggling with a new baby and a toddler, and I was away hunting too often. I saved the finest baby turtle seal pelt and handed it over to an expert leatherworker in Akulivik Town so that I could give Kya a little piece of luxury even in our poor village. Of course, when I presented the gloves to her, your mother made it a point to tell me that what she really wanted was for me to spend more time with her and you children at home. I'm so grateful now that I did listen to her, and have more memories to cherish because of it. She only wore the gloves for special occasions; they were too thin for outdoor work in the winter. That's why they're still in pretty good condition. I imagine they'll fit you by now, and you can protect your healing hands from the cold. Not that Ba Sing Se is all that cold!</p><p>Katara, you remind me so much of your mother. When I first saw you again after all of those years, it took my breath away, you looked so much like her. Though it was a dangerous and stressful time, I treasure the weeks we spent together on the ship during the war. I was impressed and moved to see the way you love and care for your friends with the same fierce devotion your mother had. You are her legacy, and I know she would be proud of everything you've accomplished.</p><p>I miss you and hope to see you again soon. I do have plans to sail back to the Fire Nation for the celebrations at the end of the summer, so I hope I'll see you there, along with your brother and Aang, of course. Enjoy yourself in the big city and have a wonderful birthday.</p><p>Love,</p><p>Dad</p><p>P. S. Aang, sorry if the leather offends your vegetarian sensibilities.</p><p>Katara wiped her eyes and opened the box. There were two gloves of thin, supple gray leather. She stroked one hesitantly with a finger, then eagerly slipped the first one on. "They do fit." She showed Aang how the fingers were precisely the correct length. The leather was so fine and flexible, her fingers' movement wasn't restricted at all. He was sure she'd be able to bend through them. Maybe even heal. "They're so soft."</p><p>Not as soft as her hands, he thought. "You like them."</p><p>"I love them!" She hugged him. "Thank you for writing my dad. You were exactly right about what I wanted most of all. Even though I would never have thought to ask for something like this, you figured out a way to give me back my mom, or at least to remind me of her. And the other presents are great too, of course." She gestured to the pile of packages. "Especially that little sculpture. It'll make everywhere we go feel like home."</p><p>Aang was so glad he'd had the inspiration to write to her father for help, that he didn't mind her dismissal of the stuff he'd spent so many afternoons shopping for. "You're so very welcome." He said softly, emphatically, trying to convey the most expansive meaning possible. Everything he had was as good as hers. She was more than welcome to all of his possessions, to any thought or effort of his that could add in any small way to her happiness.</p><p>Maybe she understood at least part of his intention. She took his face in her gloved hands and kissed him. He closed his eyes and savored the taste of her lips. The leather against his cheek felt nicer than he expected, but still he preferred her bare fingers. He pulled away just enough to look her in the eye as he slid one glove off her hand, and kissed her knuckles, then her palm. She responded by cupping his chin and bringing him in for an even deeper kiss.</p><p>Before they could get too carried away, Aang felt he needed to play schedule master again. It was an annoying role; he probably didn't appreciate Sokka enough for doing it. "We have about an hour before the dinner reservation." He wondered if she'd want to model her new dress, or read the new book, or maybe just curl up with him on the couch.</p><p>"Do you think that's enough time to fly to the Lower Ring?" Katara asked, surprising him. "I'd like to check on one of my patients. She's due any minute, and I've been thinking about her all day."</p><p>"Sure," he agreed. Anything she wanted to do today, he'd say yes, of course. But he had a feeling this errand might throw his plan off kilter.</p><p>Finding the small house from the air was difficult in the crowded Lower Ring. They made a couple of passes over the neighborhood, earning curious glances from the people below, before Katara found a landmark that helped them pinpoint the right street: the red roof of a vendor her patient had mentioned.</p><p>As soon as Nuwa, the expectant mother, let them into her small house, Aang could tell something was off. The woman kept stopping in the middle of talking to Katara, closing her eyes and breathing hard. Katara asked Nuwa to give them a minute and pulled Aang outside.</p><p>"Is she in labor?" Aang asked.</p><p>Katara nodded.</p><p>"Would you like me to fly to the hospital and get one of the other midwives?" He offered. He knew she wouldn't leave the woman alone, and it was the only way he could imagine salvaging the birthday celebration at the restaurant. As it was, they were likely to be late.</p><p>"No, I want to stay with Nuwa. She doesn't have anybody else, and she trusts me. Can you fly to the restaurant and tell the others I can't make it? And maybe bring me back some food. It's her first baby; this might take all night."</p><p>His plan was ruined, but she didn't seem upset about it, and he supposed that was the important thing. "This is how you want to spend your birthday?" He confirmed.</p><p>"Yes. This is how I want to spend my birthday." Her voice was firm and decided.</p><p>She was so amazing. So selfless. Just when he thought he couldn't possibly fall any deeper in love with her, yep, there it was. A spot even farther down, where he suddenly found himself sprawling again, head over heels.</p><p>He grabbed her shoulder, gave her a hard, fervent kiss, and flew off, before the words could tumble out of his mouth.</p><p>_______________________________________________________________________</p><p>When Aang landed at the restaurant without Katara, the others were surprised.</p><p>"She's standing us up?" Toph asked, a bit miffed, after Aang explained.</p><p>"She's delivering a baby on her birthday?" Suki seemed amazed.</p><p>"Kind of appropriate I guess." Sokka shrugged.</p><p>"Rain check tomorrow?" Toph asked.</p><p>"Yeah, probably." Aang answered.</p><p>"Well, we're here and I'm hungry, so I want to eat, with or without my sister." Sokka ruled. They were seated at a table. The smells of the food around them made Aang remember Gran Gran's igloo in the south, which made him wish Katara could be there even more. He resolved to make sure she got to enjoy a nice meal here before they moved on to the Fire Nation, where authentic Water Tribe food would be even harder to find.</p><p>"I'm going to order a meal and fly it back to her. What do you think she'd like?" Aang handed Sokka a menu, and he selected some dishes. The airbender sat with his friends while he waited for the bagged meal, and they raised a glass to his girlfriend in her absence. He told them about their trip to the lake and her presents, including the gloves from Hakoda.</p><p>"I told you she didn't need that many presents." Sokka rolled his eyes at his younger friend's exuberant generosity. "She would have been happy with half of that stuff. You went overboard. Again."</p><p>"Yeah, just because you made me worried." The airbender reminded him, in a voice of joking accusation.</p><p>"Why would you be worried?" Suki wondered.</p><p>Aang looked at Sokka with a raised eyebrow. It was only fair to make him be the one to explain it.</p><p>Sokka looked down into his drink. "I…..was in a bad headspace, and I misinterpreted something between those two, and told him Katara was going to dump him any day. "</p><p>"What?" Toph exclaimed. "And you believed him? That was dumb, Twinkletoes. You two are solid."</p><p>"Look, she sees it too," Sokka said, as if that should exonerate him.</p><p>Toph punched his shoulder, then addressed her airbending friend again. "You should have asked me, not this idiot. I would have told you how Sugar Queen's heart races every time you're together." Aang was sure his face was red with pleased bashfulness.</p><p>The server brought plates of seafood for the three who were staying, and a bag for Aang to take with him. He said good night to his friends and flew back to the Lower Ring.</p><p>____________________________________________________________________________</p><p>When Aang came back into Nuwa's house, he found her kneeling in front of the bed, with Katara's hands massaging some glowing water on her lower back. His girlfriend looked up and smiled at him.</p><p>"Feed me?" She asked.</p><p>He plopped the pieces of food into her mouth as she continued concentrating on relieving the laboring woman's pain with her healing water. She especially appreciated the sea prunes and salmon.</p><p>"A drink?" Nuwa asked, between contractions.</p><p>Katara only had to look at Aang and he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water with a straw. He held it for Nuwa while she sipped. Then he was sent back out of the room again, as the laboring woman's moans grew louder, and she started raving incoherently about taking her clothes off.</p><p>To keep busy, and to distract himself from the increasingly disturbing sounds coming from the bedroom, Aang cleaned the house. He'd gotten very good at cleaning, as part of his secret project to become the best boyfriend ever. There was a weekly housekeeper at the house they all shared, but Aang had taken charge of the dishes and laundry, so that Katara could relax when she was home from the hospital and university. All he had to do all day was go to meetings and maintain his training and take care of Appa. He figured his days were a lot less strenuous and stressful than hers, saving lives at the hospital. And with his bending, he could sweep and mop so quickly, it was really no trouble. Toph had even given him a new nickname: Mr. Clean.</p><p>When the kitchen and bathroom were cleaned to his satisfaction and he'd taken out the trash, Aang decided to fill the pantry so that Nuwa wouldn't have to leave the baby to get food in the next few days. He knocked on the door to see if the women wanted anything in particular from the store. They yelled so many things through the door that he made a list, then found the only grocery in the neighborhood still open, just before it closed, and filled a bag with fruit and bread and milk and healthy snacks.</p><p>When he came back into the house, things were quiet. Almost eerily so. For a second he was afraid something had gone horribly wrong. Then he heard a laugh—it wasn't Katara, so it must have been Nuwa. It was followed immediately by a short, startled cry like a small animal. He was so relieved he dropped the bags.</p><p>"Aang, is that you?" Katara called from behind the closed door.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm just putting this food away," He bent to pick up the fruit, hoping he hadn't bruised it. He unpacked the bags, wondering what he should do now; how much longer they would stay.</p><p>The bedroom door opened and Katara stood in the doorway. "This place looks great," she looked around at the clean, stocked kitchen.</p><p>"Glad to help."</p><p>"Come here."</p><p>He followed her into the bedroom and saw Nuwa sitting up in bed holding a bundle of blankets with a round shock of hair at one end.</p><p>"Would you like to hold him, Avatar Aang?" The new mother offered. "It would be a wonderful story to tell him someday, that the Avatar was present at his birth and held him. A special blessing."</p><p>He glanced at Katara nervously and she nodded encouragement. He moved close to the bed and held out his arms in imitation of the way Nuwa was holding hers. She placed the little head in the crook of his elbow and the bundle of blankets along his tattooed forearm. The baby was astonishingly light and soft. A tiny hand escaped the blankets and when he put his finger in the palm, it closed around it. "Welcome to the world, little hatchling," he said softly to the baby. It was a common Air Nomad endearment for children, one he supposed no one had heard in decades.</p><p>Aang could feel Katara looking at him, but was almost afraid to return her gaze, he felt so much. It was so easy to imagine this room with the women switched—the plain-faced stranger hovering in the background, and Katara the one in the bed, exhausted but glowing with pride. He couldn't quite wrap his head around his role in this scene, or the one he was picturing dimly in his longed-for future. What did a father do, anyway? His closest experience of a father had been Gyatso, and that had been more of a mentorship, or spiritual friendship, partly facilitated by the older man's relationship with Roku. He'd seen Sokka and Katara with their father; he'd witnessed Toph's strained interactions with hers; he knew Ozai's abuse from the inside. He felt uncomfortable holding the baby, in a way he couldn't put his finger on. Like he was borrowing something that didn't belong to him, and he might easily break it. Would it feel any different if it were his own child?</p><p>The baby started crying, and he looked up at the women in near panic. "What do I do?"</p><p>Katara laughed and came close, holding out her arms to take the baby from him. Her eyes were on the child now, but Aang's were on her as he passed it off. She shifted the baby to hold it upright on her shoulder, and started rocking her body, bouncing on her toes, making soothing sounds. She looked so competent and natural with it. Soon it seemed to be asleep, and she placed it in a cradle that had been prepared for it. Katara gave Nuwa a few instructions for the night, the most important of which was simply to rest, and promised to visit the next day.</p><p>Katara exclaimed in surprise when they walked out the door and she saw that night had fallen. "I didn't realize how late it is! Or how tired I am! I was cooped up in that room for so long—can we walk a bit before we fly home?"</p><p>"Of course." He took her hand, his glider staff in the other. The streets weren't quite deserted, but the crowds had disappeared and all the carts and shops were closed.</p><p>"Thank you for coming along, and sticking around." Katara said. "I know she'll appreciate the way you got all that food for her."</p><p>"You did the real work. Or, she did, I guess." He had another memory he wanted to share with her. "It reminded me of the refugee family, the baby you delivered in the Serpent's Pass. Baby Hope. You helped me so much then when I was in such a dark place."</p><p>"It was hard to see you like that, so cold and emotionless." She recalled. "I think it was the only time you ever turned down a hug!"</p><p>"I'm sorry if that hurt you. You were there for me during that time and I don't think I ever thanked you."</p><p>"You did. What you said meant a lot to me." She could still remember his words: "How I feel about Appa-and how I feel about you," punctuated with that pause that let her know how much courage it took for him to say it.</p><p>"Maybe it was weird to compare you to Appa." He looked at his feet sheepishly.</p><p>"I didn't mind that. I knew it was a compliment."</p><p>He stopped walking and turned to her, taking a deep breath. He screwed up his nerve. "What I meant was—"</p><p>"I know what you meant." She cut him off, smiling brightly.</p><p>"You do?"</p><p>"I'm your best friend." She gave him a kiss, which he returned automatically. "Your best human friend, anyway." She joked, kissing him again, longer this time, while inside he was screaming, no, that's not all! He was going to say it as soon as the kiss ended, but she spoke first. "Would you like to sleep in my room tonight?"</p><p>That question distracted Aang completely from his thwarted declaration. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He had emotional whiplash: she called him a friend, then offered him her bed?</p><p>"I mean, just sleep." Katara clarified. "We agreed to go slow, but this was allowed. There's just never been an opportunity, and Sokka's at Suki's room at the palace tonight..."</p><p>He found his voice. "Sure." Even that would be incredible. The only other times they'd slept in each others' arms at night, he'd been either comatose or insensible with grief. This was more significant, chosen not for survival or comfort, but purely for pleasure and closeness.</p><p>They continued walking, hand in hand. Aang debated internally about whether it was too late to reclaim that moment, but realized it was already gone. If he pushed, it might start a fight and ruin her birthday. He comforted himself that it was probably better if the first time he said that to her, it didn't have anything to do with a comparison to his ten-ton bison, or a reference to the past. When she felt like her legs had been stretched enough, and began to realize her fatigue, she asked to fly the rest of the way home. They mounted his glider in a way that was increasingly practiced, even routine, and took off into the night sky.</p><p>When they arrived at the house, Aang slipped into his room to get ready for bed, take off his shoes, brush his teeth and wash his face. Then he went to her room and sat on foot of the bed. Katara was in the adjoining bathroom. She came back in wearing a thin white nightdress that ended just above her knee. He'd seen her in less at the lake just this afternoon, but this was something no one else saw.</p><p>"Is it ok if I take my shirt off?" He asked. He always slept shirtless, unless he was camping somewhere cold.</p><p>"Yeah. Do you care which side?" She gestured awkwardly to the bed. It seemed very big.</p><p>"No, you can pick. It's your bed."</p><p>She chose the side closer to the bathroom, and he took the one by the door. It was the way he would have arranged it, putting himself between her and any outside threats. Of course they were safe here, but he couldn't stop his brain from thinking that way out of habit. He lay on his back and she cuddled up to his side. He put an arm around her shoulders and her head settled next to his on the pillow.</p><p>Aang kissed Katara's forehead. "Good night, sweetie. Happy birthday."</p><p>"Thank you for a great birthday. Good night." She kissed his cheek and closed her eyes.</p><p>Was that all she wanted from him, to be best friends who kissed? He had no question that he would take from her anything she was willing to give him, and find a way to be content. She could set nearly any terms for their relationship and he would accept them. He'd hoped her feelings for him would grow over time, and it had seemed like that was happening, but he might have thought that by now, she would be ready to hear those words. He ached to give her more than she seemed to want.</p><p>Was it possible that she really didn't know how he felt about her? If she could misunderstand him this way, he must be doing something wrong. His feeling for her was the most important thing in his life. He thought it illuminated his every action. It was fine if she didn't want to make plans for the future. It was ok if she didn't want to be serious, if she wanted to take things slowly, or if she didn't love him back. But if she didn't know, that bothered him.</p><p>But then, upon further reflection, Aang realized that wasn't quite right. It didn't matter whether or not she knew how deeply he cared for her, as long as she was happy. Indeed, if there was a chance that knowledge of his love might make her feel pressured, or uncomfortable, then he should keep it to himself. And she'd been giving him some mixed signals lately. But she had really seemed to be happy on this day, her birthday. From beginning to end. Happy in his company, in his gifts, happy with simple pleasures like food and waterbending, happy to provide service to Nuwa and her baby. And he was happy too. How could he not be? The most wonderful girl in the world had invited him to share her bed, and he was holding her as she drifted off to sleep. She had committed to dating him exclusively, and her brother had assured him that he had no reason to feel insecure in her attachment to him. When he took his ego, his selfish desire, out of the picture, her contentment, even joy, was what he saw, and that was enough.</p><p>But he was still left with an excess of feeling, too much for one person to hold inside. He waited until he was positive that she was asleep, and whispered into her hair, "I love you, Katara." Just saying it aloud released some built up pressure inside. Then he was able to sleep too, a little.</p><p>They rested fitfully, too busy trying new ways to fit their bodies together; they hadn't spent much time horizontal before. One of them would get cozy and drift off to sleep, and then the other would realize the position wasn't that comfortable at all, try to endure it anyway, then eventually give up and move, waking the other, and the cycle would begin again. In the second half of the night, they seemed to move progressively farther apart, as their tired bodies unconsciously chose sleep over closeness, so that when Aang woke at dawn, as he usually did, they weren't touching at all.</p><p>He just lay there looking at her. So close, he could see details of her face and focus on them, in a way that would be creepy if she were awake. Like the shape of her eyebrows, the slope of her nose, the tiny, clear hairs on her cheek. She was so beautiful. But was it actually more creepy to watch her when she was asleep? Maybe, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away. Aang hadn't allowed himself to linger like this in the mornings on the little sleeping pallet they'd shared in the Southern Air Temple. He'd always left the bedroll as soon as he'd woken up, moving slowly and carefully so as not to disturb her. He remembered feeling embarrassed by his nightly emotional outbursts, and having an urge to hide, even from her. Maybe he'd also instinctively known that waking up together was even more intimate than falling asleep together, and he hadn't been sure they were there yet. During those painful few nights, Katara had simply supported him, offered the comfort of her arms without word or discussion, but this time she had invited him to her bed when there had been no emergency of any kind, it seemed as a birthday treat for herself, or perhaps to thank him for his presents. It was a totally different situation, and he felt he had reason to believe she might want him to stick around this time.</p><p>As always, his gaze was drawn to her lips. They were full and pink and the twin curves on her top lip were so perfect. Examining her pretty mouth just made him want to kiss it, of course. He'd kissed her awake the previous morning, and she'd responded by asking him to lay down with her. But he'd done that with his feet on the ground, and then after he joined her, all they did was cuddle. Kissing while lying down together under the sheets seemed like a bigger step, one he couldn't take without her consent, no matter what she'd said previously. Since that dumb kiss during the play, Aang had always let Katara take the lead in their physical relationship, and that seemed to be working really well. He never felt impatient; the pace she set kept him just on the edge of what he could handle. It was thrilling. No, waking her with a kiss today would be a bad idea. He probably had morning breath anyway. He considered getting up to brush his teeth, but didn't want to be out of the bed when she woke up.</p><p>Katara stirred a little, and Aang instantly closed his eyes to feign sleep. She stretched and her foot ran into his leg. She stopped moving for a second, as if startled, remembering. He heard her hair rustle on the pillow as if she were turning her head to look at him. He focused on breathing slowly. Then he felt something soft against his cheek: she'd kissed him! He consciously reminded himself not to move too quickly as he opened his eyes and smiled and turned his head her way.</p><p>"Good morning," she said.</p><p>"It's a very good morning." He turned toward her, onto his side. "Sorry if I kept you awake."</p><p>"I think that might have gone both ways." She stretched, then settled a little closer to him, still lying on her back. "Maybe this will take some getting used to."</p><p>He liked the sound of that. "Do you want to?" He asked hopefully. "Get used to it? Like as a normal thing? Or was this just a special occasion?"</p><p>"I'm not sure." Katara said tentatively. "I like it."</p><p>"Me too." Emboldened by her words, Aang reached his arm across her, under the covers, until it settled on her stomach, his hand falling into the dip of her waist. He had a memory of her placing his arm exactly there at some point during the night. She laid her arm alongside his, fingers touching his elbow.</p><p>"Would you like it to be normal?" She asked.</p><p>"I want whatever you want."</p><p>Katara understood: that meant he did want it to be normal, but was willing to sleep separately as long as she wanted to. She appreciated how he let her set their boundaries, but sometimes it felt like a big responsibility, one she might have preferred to share. She looked away from his eyes and up to the ceiling so she could think.</p><p>Why was she hesitating? What was she afraid of? Was it the intimacy, the feelings of closeness? Those seemed to be inevitable, even if all they did was kiss. And she was discovering that wasn't so scary anyway. Was she afraid of revealing herself to him, or of what she'd see if he showed himself? No, she knew they would accept each other entirely. She wasn't worried that one thing would lead to another; she trusted them both to hold the line wherever they decided to hold it.</p><p>She did worry about getting dependent, relying on his presence in bed to be able to relax and fall asleep. She knew they couldn't expect to be able to keep up this arrangement all the time. Sleeping side by side might become impossible in the next place they visited. There was the issue of Sokka, and how much she was willing to argue with him over this. She wasn't ashamed of anything they'd done together, and she'd fight to defend her relationship, but it wasn't anyone's business but theirs. Her brother would naturally assume they were having sex if they were caught in the same bed. Would anyone believe them if they insisted they were only sleeping? Suddenly that rule she'd decided to disregard made a bit of sense.</p><p>But he was so cozy and warm, and waking to his smile had been so delicious. She had to admit, she wanted more of that too. And she also had to admit that the novelty of this sleeping arrangement had made it less than restful for either of them last night. It would be good if they became somewhat accustomed to it. A compromise, then.</p><p>"What if it's an occasional thing, but not just special occasions?" She proposed. "Maybe weekly?"</p><p>Aang grinned. "Great! This is my new favorite way to wake up." He scooted a little closer, using the arm around her waist to pull her into him.</p><p>"You don't usually stay in bed this late," she observed.</p><p>"Skipping one day of meditation and hot squats is fine," he assured her. Lingering with her like this was more than worth it. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled its scent.</p><p>"You don't have any meetings this morning?" She sounded like she was hoping he could stay where he was.</p><p>"No. Are you expected at the hospital?"</p><p>"Not til afternoon. I'll check in with Nuwa before I go there."</p><p>"You were amazing with her last night." Aang told her. "You took such good care of her and her baby. You always take care of everybody."</p><p>"She was a good patient. Her baby is so cute. It would have been a lot harder to attend a birth on an empty stomach, but luckily I had a very handsome flying delivery boy." Katara traced her fingers up his arm to his shoulder.</p><p>They rolled together until they were touching cheek to cheek, and held each other that way a while. The silky texture of her hair on his face reminded him of the words he'd whispered there before falling asleep. This was a new moment, a new day. He inhaled and parted his lips.</p><p>She turned her head and looked him in the eye, her smile dazzling. "I'm so happy. Everything is perfect right now."</p><p>Aang's chest tightened, and he swallowed the words again. "It is." He reached up with his neck so he could kiss Katara softly on the forehead. "This is all I'll ever need."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's note:</p><p>What do you think? Is Aang the best boyfriend ever? Let me know in a review!</p><p>The idea of Katara's regret about Jet leading her to trust Zuko briefly in the Crystal Catacombs is inspired by Writing In Water: The Waterbender's Scroll, the best Avatar fanfic of all time.</p><p>Apparently, according to Avatar Extras and word from the creators, Jet and Katara DID kiss, but I choose to deny that, since it's like second-level canon and must have taken place off screen, if it in fact happened. If it were important that Katara kissed Jet, we would have seen it; therefore I feel justified denying it. Isn't it so much better if Aang is her first kiss in the cave, anyway?</p><p>Bonus points for anyone who can spot the Bridgerton-inspired moment in this chapter.</p><p>I'm taking a short break from this story to post another related one, the Maiko missing moment spinoffs I hinted about last week. The one-shot next week will be called "A Contentious Reunion." Please subscribe to me as an author so that you can get a notification for it. I will post on Fridays, as usual! There will be this one-shot, and then four chapters of fighting, fluff, and even a lemon! And then I'll be back to posting When It's All Over on Fridays, and we'll be in the Fire Nation!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Return to the Fire Nation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: I'm glad to be back! I took some time off from updating this story to post some other stories: "Yes, Sifu Katara," "A Contentious Reunion," and "Weathering the Storm." I recommend them if you haven't had the chance to read them yet. They can be found on my author page. The last two are spinoffs from this story featuring Zuko and Mai. Later chapters of When It's All Over may reference the events of those Maiko stories.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Avatar and his friends flew east over the ocean on their way to the Fire Nation. Aang sat on Appa's head while the others lounged in the saddle. Most of them were excited to have one member of the team restored to her place. Even Toph had a sense of relief about the way Suki's reappearance had simplified their travel plans.</p>
<p>"I'm just glad we hooked back up with you in Ba Sing Se, instead of having to track you down, Suki," the earthbender told the older girl. "Katara said we might have to stop at Kyoshi Island on the way to Zuko's, and it would add an extra day and a half in the air, and I was not happy about that."</p>
<p>"I'm so happy it happened that way too. I can't wait to get to the palace!" The Kyoshi Warrior enthused. "Do you think Zuko will have a party for us? His coronation was so much fun! The food, the fireworks-"</p>
<p>"We went to a lot of amazing parties in the Earth Kingdom. Like Bumi's birthday party in Omashu, Aang's birthday party in Senlin Village, and the harvest celebration in Haru's village. But I guess you missed those, Suki." Katara had intended only a slight edge of rudeness toward her brother's girlfriend, but her dig came out a bit nastier than she meant it to.</p>
<p>"Nah, they weren't such great parties." Sokka dismissed them.</p>
<p>"You only say that because you were too drunk to remember them," Katara reminded him, rolling her eyes. "Those of us who had no need to drown our sorrows had a wonderful time."</p>
<p>"Not as good a time as at King Keui's ball, though. The gardens, the dancing….." Sokka squeezed Suki around the waist.</p>
<p>"I didn't think you two made it to the dance floor," Toph said with a smirk.</p>
<p>"We didn't. Suki served me a most delicious dessert in her room instead." Sokka grinned at his girlfriend, who laughed in scandalized delight, and gave him a playful smack on the arm.</p>
<p>Katara's face twisted in disgust. "Straight from breakup to bedroom. That'll end well."</p>
<p>"I could say some things about you and Twinkletoes," Toph began.</p>
<p>Katara started, kicking herself. Against her better judgement, she'd slept in Aang's bed one night when Toph was in the house instead of at her parents' place. She'd known the earthbender would sense it. She was preparing an argument about how it was different because they hadn't just come off a breakup, and all they'd done was sleep anyway, when Sokka interrupted.</p>
<p>"Please don't," her brother begged. "None of us want to hear about that."</p>
<p>"We don't want to hear about your special dessert either," Toph retorted.</p>
<p>"Got it." Sokka held up his hands, respecting his younger friend's protests in a way that he never did his sister's.</p>
<p>"And we also don't want to have to pick up the pieces later." Katara muttered, not quite just to herself, turning to the side of the sky bison's saddle and looking out over the ocean.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Appa landed in the central courtyard of the palace, and his passengers were immediately greeted by the Fire Lord and his girlfriend. After hugs all around, he invited his guests inside for a late dinner.</p>
<p>Zuko led the group from the courtyard to the dining room. Their path took them through the portrait gallery, where the new arrivals noticed a change that had been made since they were last in the Fire Nation several months ago. White tapestries with red embroidered characters hung over the murals of Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai. For each Fire Lord, the hanging cloth simply told their names, dates of birth, coronation, and death, names of family members, and a list of their deeds, bad and good, phrased in a matter-of-fact way that did not exalt them or sugarcoat their misdeeds.</p>
<p>"Uh, what happened here, Zuko?" Sokka wondered, stopping in front of one of the tapestries.</p>
<p>"Oh. I wanted to take down the murals of my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. I was afraid these paintings might make…..some foreign guests I might have uncomfortable. But then the court painter convinced me they have 'artistic merit,' and the court historian told me they're part of the historical record. He said that if nothing else they provide evidence for how the previous Fire Lords' deeds were viewed in their time. So I finally agreed they shouldn't be destroyed, but I still didn't want them <em>displayed</em>. I couldn't store them away in an attic because they're painted directly on the wall. But it's not right to glorify men who committed such atrocities. So this was the compromise. Covering them up and explaining their legacy."</p>
<p>"It's nice that you thought of our comfort, Zuko, but seeing these pictures didn't bother me," Aang assured him.</p>
<p>"Or me," Katara chimed in.</p>
<p>"Or me," Toph added, making the others groan.</p>
<p>"I thought of them as family pictures." Aang clarified. "It's not your fault your family was…."</p>
<p>"A bunch of genocidal maniacs?" Sokka put in.</p>
<p>Katara slapped his arm, and Aang put his hand behind his head in embarrassment. Zuko shrugged. It seemed like a fair description to him.</p>
<p>"It was pretty controversial," the Fire Lord admitted. "I had to argue with council members about it for days. They said I was making it personal, that I only wanted to do this just because my grandfather ordered my death, and my father burned me. Extremists like the New Ozai Society protested, saying I was 'erasing history.' Even after we decided on this compromise, it took weeks for the committee to fight out every word on those tapestries."</p>
<p>He led them a little bit further down the hall, where they could see that the beginning of a mural had already been started for the newest monarch. So far it had only Zuko's face, the dates of his birth and coronation, and the names of his father, mother, and sister. There was a lot of empty space that would be filled with symbols and characters depicting the things he would accomplish in future years.</p>
<p>He gestured to the opposite wall. "Those are the Avatars from the Fire Nation. You see Roku, and, farther down, Szeto. There are spaces between for the years of the Avatars from other nations. I've been talking to the committee about changing that tradition. After all, the Avatar belongs to all nations, not that of just his or her origin, right? I'd like to put your portrait here, Aang, right across from mine."</p>
<p>Aang looked at Roku, across from the white tapestry with Sozin's name. They'd been like brothers, but the Avatar had been betrayed. The airbender saw here a chance to fix that betrayal, to make the Avatar and the Fire Lord brothers again. "That would be an honor, Zuko. But I understand if the council doesn't want to do it. It would be a break with tradition. No need to rush or push it. We'll be helping the world together for years."</p>
<p>During dinner, the group discussed the places they wanted to visit and revisit during their time in the country, with the palace serving as their base between trips. Zuko told the others about some educational and environmental projects he was hoping they would help him with, in addition to the diplomatic meetings already scheduled. He'd even made some special arrangements for the healer.</p>
<p>"And Katara, the heads of the medical school and the local hospital are eager to meet you. I know you enjoyed your medical training in Ba Sing Se, so I wanted to make sure you'd be able to continue your education while you're here."</p>
<p>"Thank you, Zuko! That was really thoughtful of you." She nodded appreciatively.</p>
<p>"Suki and I are going to be spending some time at Piandao's estate," Sokka told his host. "When we're not traveling or meeting with world leaders, that is."</p>
<p>"What will you do there?" Zuko wondered.</p>
<p>"Oh, just make a new space sword, level up my skills, teach him the boomerang-"</p>
<p>"And the battle fan," Suki put in, making her boyfriend beam at her.</p>
<p>"Train with the best sparring partner ever, join an ancient secret society, nothing too big or important." Sokka finished modestly.</p>
<p>After a long day in the air, they were all ready to retire and rest. Aang was shown to the newly renovated Avatar's Suite, and Katara was given a room across the hall from it, one usually reserved for foreign diplomats. Apparently, that entire wing of the palace had been unused for decades. War did not make dignitaries from overseas particularly eager to visit. But when the Earth King and his retinue arrived for the next round of colony negotiations, they would stay here as well, since their embassy was still under construction.</p>
<p>Sokka, Suki, and Toph were given rooms on a second-floor hall that a servant said was designated for members of the royal family who were not in the line of succession. Lady Mai had a room on this hall as well, she said, although they never saw her there.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Katara was in the palace library, hoping to find some books on Fire Nation medical techniques to prepare for her interviews, when Sokka came in.</p>
<p>"What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised to see him.</p>
<p>"In his last letter, the Mechanist recommended a couple texts on engineering, and I wondered if there might be some copies here." Her brother responded. "But, uh, since we're alone, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. Suki's kind of hurt by the way you've been acting."</p>
<p>The incident during the flight hadn't been the first time Katara had been cold or dismissive of Suki since her brother had reunited with his ex-girlfriend. She hadn't expected to feel such hostility upon seeing Suki again after such a long separation, but she had just found herself completely incapable of greeting her warmly or even speaking civilly. She had been rooting for the couple to get back together, but she'd had no idea she would feel like this once they did. That was why she'd mostly avoided the older girl, and gave her the cold shoulder when they were together in a group. Worse, sometimes she had even lashed out with sarcastic comments, as she had on Appa. The waterbender knew her behavior was unfair, but she just couldn't help it. She was still mad at Suki for the way Sokka had suffered during the last few months.</p>
<p>"She broke your heart." Katara halfheartedly justified herself.</p>
<p>"And I broke hers, and now we're both over it and really happy." Sokka replied mildly. "It would be nice if you could get on board."</p>
<p>"It's like every time I see her, I remember you moping around like no one in history has ever been so wretched." His sister explained. "I know she didn't do anything wrong; the breakup was mutual and you're a stronger couple for it now. Just….know that I was only acting standoffish out of loyalty to you."</p>
<p>"I know. That and your tendency to hold a grudge. I was starting to wonder if she was going to have to take you on a murder vacation like Zuko did, to make you get over it, but I couldn't figure out who the target would be."</p>
<p>Katara reddened and looked down in shame at the memory.</p>
<p>Sokka went on. "Suki thinks of you as a sister, you know. And she left all her other sisters behind to come here with me. If Toph can be nice to her, when she's…..Toph-"</p>
<p>"Are you talking about her personality or her massive crush on you?"</p>
<p>"Both. But she's taking it really well. Maybe she's over it."</p>
<p>"Good for her." Katara nodded. "Does that mean you're going to do the protective older brother thing when she gets a boyfriend?"</p>
<p>"Maybe. If I don't like the guy, I'm sure I will be all too happy to scare him off."</p>
<p>She scoffed. "As if you'd be able to frighten anyone brave enough to date Toph."</p>
<p>He snickered. "That's true. She can look out for herself."</p>
<p>"And I can't?" Katara raised an eyebrow at him pointedly.</p>
<p>"I mean, you could easily freeze a guy to death if he got fresh with you. But I'm not worried about that with Aang."</p>
<p>"Good. He's a complete gentleman."</p>
<p>"Of course he is. I always knew he would be. And, you know, fair warning, if you two ever broke up, I'm not sure I would pick your side automatically."</p>
<p>"What? That's not fair!"</p>
<p>"He's family too. And knowing you, there's a good chance you'd be the one in the wrong."</p>
<p>"What would I do?" Katara put her hands on her hips indignantly.</p>
<p>"Your temper, for one. Your grudges."</p>
<p>"Well, I'm not planning on-"</p>
<p>"It's not necessarily something you plan." Sokka reminded her of his bitter experience. "It can come out of the blue."</p>
<p>"Still, I don't know why you'd think I would ever-"</p>
<p>"I had a conversation with him about….some problems I could see in your future, and I was very impressed with his answers." He informed her. "So I conclude from that, if you two ever break up, it'll be your fault, not his."</p>
<p>"What kind of problems?" She asked warily. She thought she knew what he'd say.</p>
<p>"I know you remember that conversation at the Air Temple just as well as I do."</p>
<p>"Yeah…." She looked down at her hands.</p>
<p>"I'll admit, the whole thing about how Air Nomads don't get married, they just sleep around—it worried me a little for your sake, for a while." Sokka confided. "And I also just thought it was kind of…..squicky. Like, if nobody knows who their dad is, and everybody's sleeping around, how do you make sure you don't end up in bed with your half sister?"</p>
<p>Katara's eyes widened. "I guess I never thought of that. But Aang didn't say <em>nobody</em> knew, just that he didn't, and he wasn't the only one. There are plenty of people who don't know their fathers in other countries too. Maybe they kept records?"</p>
<p>"I hope they did. The way he described it, it just sounded like a whole nation of fuckbuddies."</p>
<p>"Yeah…." She wouldn't have put it like that, but that was basically the idea that had disturbed her most after their talk at the Air Temple, the idea of Aang seeing her that way, using her so casually. It had also been confusing because it didn't seem to fit the way he treated her at all. But that particular worry had basically disappeared since they had agreed to date exclusively.</p>
<p>"But anyway, he and I talked about it, and he said I had the wrong idea." Sokka went on. "Apparently his people <em>didn't</em> take sex lightly after all. I have to admit I don't really understand what that means without marriage, or at least monogamy, but I guess I kind of have to take his word for it, because he's the only one alive who would know. Either way, he said he's serious about you, so." He shrugged, as if to say, that's that.</p>
<p>"He is?"</p>
<p>Sokka made a face at her that said, 'are you crazy?' "Of course! Do I have to get Toph in here so she can say you're more blind than she is?"</p>
<p>"No, I…..believe you."</p>
<p>"Good. I'm glad you don't need as much convincing as he did."</p>
<p>Her face fell in dismay. "He didn't know I'm serious about him?"</p>
<p>Sokka looked away, fidgeting nervously. "I think it did a number on him, the way you strung him along before the comet."</p>
<p>She hung her head. "That's fair. I've been working to fix it. To show him….."</p>
<p>"But not tell him? Are you saying you two <em>still</em> haven't talked about what happens after this tour?"</p>
<p>"Not really… I guess one time we both said we'd like to keep traveling together, but nothing concrete." Maybe that was her fault. There might even have been a couple times when he'd tried to get that kind of discussion started, but she had shut him down. She had a very good reason for that, one she did not want to discuss with her brother.</p>
<p>"How does that happen?" Sokka asked the ceiling, exasperated. "Does no one pay attention to anything I say? I <em>told</em> him you guys needed to talk. You two do nothing but talk."</p>
<p>"Um, we do other things…." She blushed.</p>
<p>"Ugh, no, you don't! Please just pretend for a minute that all you do is talk."</p>
<p>"Fine. We are expert conversationalists."</p>
<p>"Why did you have to make that sound dirty?"</p>
<p>"Because we are not nearly as good at<em> talking</em> as you and Suki."</p>
<p>"Ok, that's true. We are really good at talking. And not talking."</p>
<p>"Ugh." She made a face.</p>
<p>"See, you get the oogies too." He nudged her shoulder. "And I mean, you did have somewhat of a good point earlier."</p>
<p>"When was that?"</p>
<p>"When you said it wasn't smart for Suki and me to get right back in the saddle before we talked it all out." Sokka said sheepishly, uncharacteristically reflective. "And maybe that was part of the problem before, too. I assumed she knew how much I loved her because we were sleeping together, but that wasn't enough. In retrospect, I was almost treating sex like a toy. I guess that's understandable: we're young, it was new and exciting. I didn't appreciate it, or her, until she was gone. But now, being with her is like…..a religious event."</p>
<p>"Wow." She was taken aback. "I….uh…..didn't think you were a very spiritual guy."</p>
<p>"I am now." He assured her. "You'll make things right with Suki, then?</p>
<p>Katara sighed. "Yeah, I will." She bumped his shoulder with hers. "It's good to see you happy again."</p>
<p>"And she's the one you have to thank for that."</p>
<p>"I know. She's great. I've always liked Suki. I was just being stupid."</p>
<p>"I get it." Sokka shrugged. "The Water Tribe is loyal to their own. And I'm sorry I was such a wreck for so long. Thanks for sticking with me."</p>
<p>Katara squeezed her brother's arm affectionately. "Always."</p>
<hr/>
<p>The following morning, Katara asked around for Suki's location, and was unsurprised to hear that she was in the practice room. The palace had a well-appointed facility with state-of-the-art weapons and equipment, and it made sense that the warrior would want to make the most of it. The waterbender walked down to the large, airy room, carrying a bag with a peace offering. She watched Suki hitting a punching bag for a few minutes. She had always admired how tough and strong Suki was. It made her wonder if she should learn some nonbending self-defense herself. She could always take water from the environment, but if she were ever stuck in the desert again, or severely dehydrated…but then, that level of water deprivation would weaken her so that she couldn't do much to defend herself anyway. Hydration on her mind, she filled a cup with water from a jug to offer Suki before clearing her throat to announce her presence.</p>
<p>"Oh. Hi." Suki said awkwardly, approaching and accepting the cup from Katara's hand. They sat on a bench, quiet and subdued. Katara knew it was her job to break the silence.</p>
<p>"I know I've been rude and mean to you since you rejoined us, and I wanted to apologize."</p>
<p>"Oh. Um, it's ok." Suki looked down into her now-empty cup.</p>
<p>"It's just…..Sokka was pretty broken up about you for a while, and it wasn't easy for me to see him like that." Katara explained, shifting her weight uncomfortably. "I blamed you for it, even though he said from the beginning it was mutual. I figured that was just his way to save face."</p>
<p>"I understand." Suki nodded and sighed. "I figured this was how you felt. I know how close you and Sokka are. You two sometimes hide how much you care about each other, but you've certainly been through a lot more together than my sister and I have. Maybe when we broke up you felt like I'd betrayed you, as well as your brother. I saw how you treated Zuko, and compared to that, I got off pretty light. You said I was part of the team, but I always understood that your primary loyalty was to Sokka. That's as it should be."</p>
<p>"No, it's not." Katara shook her head, amazed at how stoic and forgiving Suki was being. "I should have some…..female solidarity, and I should have remembered that you're part of the family too. In your own right, not just as Sokka's partner. Anyway, I apologize. And to show how much I approve, and to help you both…..keep safe and healthy, I wanted to give you this." She handed Suki the bag. "I got this stuff from the midwife clinic where I was working in Ba Sing Se. There are written instructions inside about how it works, but you can ask me if you have any questions." Suki poked around inside it for a minute, understood what it was, and blushed. Katara went on, "I just don't want either of you-but let's be real, it would be you-to have your plans disrupted, or miss any opportunities, just because….you're so in love."</p>
<p>"I really appreciate this, Katara."</p>
<p>"I kind of wish I could ask you about it, but it's my brother so….." Katara confided her curiosity shyly.</p>
<p>"I understand. Sokka is the only guy I've known so I guess you don't want to hear any details from me." The warrior shrugged. "I can say that communication is important. You were right that hopping right back into bed after a break up is a bad idea. The second we got up in the morning after getting back together at the ball, we started fighting. But it was more a misunderstanding than anything. We cleared it up pretty quickly."</p>
<p>"That's good. I do want you two to be happy. And it's clear that without you, Sokka is miserable. You're still the best girl he could ever find. I can't believe how lucky he is to have you."</p>
<p>"I love him, you know. And I'm never going to let him get away again." Suki vowed.</p>
<p>Tears came to Katara's eyes. "I'll hold you to that."</p>
<p>"Please do. I'm glad Sokka has you, and that you helped him through our breakup. You're a good sister."</p>
<p>"So are you." Katara ventured. She hoped she hadn't messed up her relationship with her adopted older sister too badly.</p>
<p>"A girl can never have too many sisters." Suki pulled her in for a hug.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Yes, Zuko's choice to cover up the murals of Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai has a pretty clear parallel in current US. debate about Confederate monuments. In case it's not clear, I believe they should be taken down, removed from public spaces, not destroyed, but put in museums and given proper context. When Aang and Katara say that they are not bothered by the paintings, I do not intend to put those words in the mouths of anyone in the current debate; the fact that these are portraits of their friend's immediate family members that are displayed in his home is what is relevant there. (And of course when Toph says she's not bothered, it's just a blind joke).</p>
<p>I'm REALLY not interested in debating that issue in reviews or PMs or comments. And if I lose some readers over this stance, I don't care.</p>
<p>This portrait gallery is explained (and destroyed) in the novel The Shadow of Kyoshi (you should read it if you haven't yet!). I'm assuming that the murals got restored at some point between Kyoshi's day and the present.</p>
<p>In case it wasn't obvious, what Katara gives Suki in the bag is basically some method of birth control (not sex toys or lingerie or anything like that, it's much more practical). I would have had her explain it, but I don't really care about how birth control works in this universe (Is it a tea? Are there barrier methods? Does it matter as long as it's effective?) so I didn't want to go into details. Especially at the risk of spreading misinformation by creating some birth control method that doesn't exist in reality and confusing young readers.</p>
<p>Next chapter: Zuko discovers a family secret.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. A Beautiful Prince</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: This chapter is all about Zuko. If you want to read more about him, check out my new stories "Weathering the Storm" and "Healing Invisible Scars" Both deal with Zuko and Mai's journey in missing moments from this longer story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko was going over the household accounts, looking for ways to trim expenses. He had already eliminated several wasteful practices, like daily linen changes in empty bedrooms. He was looking through the lists of staff for redundancies and useless busywork. He didn't necessarily want to<em> fire</em> anybody, but surely there were a few people employed in the palace who had higher ambitions, who would be thrilled to take a generous severance package and a personal recommendation letter from the Fire Lord, and seek a more fulfilling career.</p><p>On the list of staff, there were four names he didn't recognize. Strangely, where the form would have listed their duties, the space was left blank. He called in the exchequer to ask for more information.</p><p>"Can you explain to me what work these four people are doing in the palace?" He asked, pointing to the names on the list.</p><p>The man reddened and sputtered. "I think-I'm not in charge-you should ask Li and Lo."</p><p>Mystified, Zuko nodded. "All right. Send them in."</p><p>When he put the same question to the twins, they glanced at each other furtively.</p><p>"These are women your father hired while you were absent from the palace, my lord." Li informed him.</p><p>"To do what, exactly?"</p><p>The twins looked at each other again.</p><p>"Your father felt that he had a duty to provide the country with an heir and a spare, as he put it." Lo stated carefully.</p><p>"And since you had been banished and disinherited-" Li continued the explanation.</p><p>"He set himself to the creation of a new prince or princess." Lo finished her thought.</p><p>Zuko paled. Such a thing had not occurred to him. He'd known he had been disowned, but he never would have imagined that his father might try to literally replace him. Though he had thought he was over that pain, it still stung all over again to hear how thoroughly his father had renounced him.</p><p>"So these payments are for….." he trailed off, unsure how to phrase it delicately.</p><p>"Concubines, my lord." Li answered.</p><p>"Four of them."</p><p>"Fire Lord Ozai tasked us with their maintenance and management."</p><p>"Our job was to ensure that one of them would be available to him each night in the Fire Lady's chamber-"</p><p>"And to rotate them to maximize the chances of conception."</p><p>"Then why haven't I heard-" Zuko asked, stunned. "Do I have a sibling I don't know about?"</p><p>"To be honest, my lord, Fire Lord Ozai's….efforts with these women was….halfhearted at that time." Lo admitted. "He was much more interested in military conquests than in…..amorous pursuits."</p><p>"And when you returned to the palace triumphant from Ba Sing Se, he sent the women away." Li told him.</p><p>"His heir was back and he did not need another, he said."</p><p>"But then when you left again, on the Day of Black Sun…."</p><p>"He called the women back to his chambers-"</p><p>"And this time he was much more determined to succeed."</p><p>"He visited one or more of them nearly every night between the Day of Black Sun and the return of Sozin's comet."</p><p>"He was not kind. They were often bruised." Li informed him resentfully. Zuko grimaced, filled with guilt for the way his father had vented his rage against his son on these women.</p><p>"He doesn't need to know that." Her sister scolded her in a whisper. Then she turned to the Fire Lord. "One of them is with child, my lord."</p><p>Zuko fell back in his chair, astounded. "Why am I just now hearing about this?"</p><p>"She had had several miscarriages, my lord, and did not wish to inform you until she was sure she would carry the child to term."</p><p>"Does he know?" Surely if his father knew of the impending birth, he would have taunted his guards with it, and word would have gotten back to Zuko.</p><p>"No, my lord." Li answered. "Her pregnancy was not confirmed until after your coronation."</p><p>"And of course, your father has had no visitors."</p><p>"Where is she? And the other three?" He asked.</p><p>"She and two of the others have been staying in the servants' quarters."</p><p>"That was where your father had ordered them to stay when they were not called to his chambers."</p><p>"The fourth?" He wondered.</p><p>"She fled when your father fell."</p><p>"She is…..a true believer."</p><p>"She's still getting payments….." he pointed at the ledger.</p><p>"We have been setting the money aside for her, but she has not picked it up in months."</p><p>Zuko had a chilling thought. "Are we sure she's not also pregnant?" The illegitimate child of a former Fire Lord, in the hands of an extremist, could potentially become the focus of an uprising against him.</p><p>"Yes, my lord. It was part of our job to monitor such things-"</p><p>"And we can confirm that only one of the concubines conceived, despite your father's best efforts." Li reassured him.</p><p>"Tell me about the one who is pregnant."</p><p>The twins exchanged a smile. They seemed to like the girl. "Her name is Nozomi."</p><p>"She is meek and sweet-tempered."</p><p>"She came from a poor village on Ochado Island."</p><p>"The payments saved her family's farm."</p><p>"And paid for her brothers to be educated."</p><p>"She enjoys drawing and painting."</p><p>"The nicest girl you'll ever meet."</p><p>"Except for your own mother, of course."</p><p>"Almost as pretty as we were in our prime." The twins smiled at each other again, and Zuko knew he didn't wish to hear any more from them.</p><p>"Thank you for telling me. You may go."</p><p>Zuko sent the twins away so that he could think. He was still reeling from the news. He had stopped caring about his father's approval, but it still affected him to know how completely he had been rejected, accepted, and then rejected again. However, he had to put those personal feelings aside to figure out what to do next.</p><p>When he cleared his mind of his baggage, he realized that this was good news. He would have a baby brother or sister. But he would have to manage the situation carefully.</p><p>A monarch with no heir was insecure. Currently Zuko was all that stood between his country and a succession crisis. He supposed that in the event of his untimely death, Iroh could be called out of retirement, but that would only put off anarchy a few years; Uncle could not live forever and had no heir except his only nephew. It was out of the question to allow his insane sister Azula anywhere near the throne, and without his bending Ozai was disqualified, not that the Avatar would ever allow the man he'd defeated to rule again anyway.</p><p>A younger sibling, one who had not been poisoned by his father, could inherit Zuko's crown and continue his legacy. This child would be illegitimate, but could still be granted his birthright if recognized. Usually the father would have to recognize his child himself, but in this case the Fire Lord's word, plus testimony from the twins, would have to be good enough. Of course Zuko hoped he would have his own children someday, but having an heir already lined up would make his reign that much more secure, would give his people that much more confidence concerning the future.</p><p>Zuko realized there was actually no conflict at all. His former villain brain and his new moral sense were giving him the same advice: to keep this child and its mother close. He knew this royal baby could threaten his reign just as easily as strengthen it. He needed to make sure that he or she would grow into an ally rather than a potential usurper. So his best bet was to be kind and generous to the child and its mother, to engender loyalty. Zuko recognized the cold calculation in his own thoughts, and it made him uncomfortable. He told himself he would make the same choice even if it would weaken his position, because he wasn't a monster.</p><p>He did have a sincere desire to treat this woman well-Nozomi, he repeated the name to himself—and the other concubines, too, even the one who had run away. He would move them out of the servants' quarters into more respectable accommodations. He'd offer them even more money and give them opportunities. Their lives should not be limited by the way his father had used them. He would try to ensure that.</p><hr/><p>That evening, when Mai came to his room, Zuko told her what he'd learned.</p><p>"I have something to tell you. It's good. At least, I think it's good." He said to his girlfriend, and recounted his conversations with the exchequer, and Li and Lo. But then he was surprised and put off when she barely reacted. They had never discussed children before, and now her lack of response made him worried that he might have made the wrong assumptions about what she wanted in that regard. "I thought you'd be happy. It takes a lot of pressure off you. Now you wouldn't have to have a kid if you don't want to."</p><p>Mai snapped, "I was never going to have a kid I don't want."</p><p>Zuko couldn't figure out why she was annoyed with him. "Are you upset about the idea of concubines?" He asked warily.</p><p>"Pretty common practice among Fire Lords. I know your family's history." She scoffed.</p><p>"But I hope you know I would never…" He trailed off uncertainly.</p><p>"Yeah, because you don't have a death wish."</p><p>"Right. But even if you couldn't, or didn't want to-"</p><p>"What would you do?" She challenged.</p><p>"Well, nothing, I guess." He answered uncertainly. "I've already got an heir now, thanks to Nozomi. I can help to raise this kid right, and pass it all on to him or her."</p><p>"Don't you need a spare?" She asked, an edge in her voice.</p><p>"I'd<em> like</em> one," he answered slowly, tentatively. "But, ummm, maybe if you didn't want to….put yourself through all that, we could…..fake a pregnancy and adopt?" He proposed, hunching his shoulders as if expecting a blow. It was the only other way he could think of to have a baby without <em>having</em> a baby. "You'd have to hide for a few months."</p><p>"I don't want to fake a pregnancy, Zuko." Mai's arms were crossed and her voice was flat, decided.</p><p>Discouraged, he looked down. "Well, I guess this baby would be enough…."</p><p>"Zuko, you know I don't fake <em>anything</em>." Mai reminded him pointedly.</p><p>He reddened, catching her double meaning. "You mean you'd-"</p><p>"I've always figured having a baby or two was part of the deal." She shrugged in a matter-of-fact way. "You've seen me with Tom Tom. I like kids enough. And there's plenty of help around here. If the kid is a brat and I don't want to see her, I wouldn't have to."</p><p>"I would help," Zuko volunteered.</p><p>"Really?" She smirked, amused. "What do you know about babies?"</p><p>"Nothing. But I would learn."</p><p>She snickered. "Can't wait to see that."</p><p>"Well, we'd have to wait-" he began.</p><p>"I mean, you're going to help with <em>this</em> baby, right? Your new little half-brother or sister?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah. Of course. It'll be good practice."</p><p>"This kid needs someone who doesn't see him as just practice. You're going to be the closest thing to a father he'll have." She reminded him sternly.</p><p>"I guess so. You're right. And I want to do a good job." He told her earnestly. "I mean, if this kid decides I'm a horrible tyrant someday, he could try to throw me in jail and take the throne. Just like I did to my father. And he did to Uncle."</p><p>"Don't you see?" She touched his arm. "This is your chance to break the cycle."</p><p>Zuko nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. That's true. That's what I want to do." He took her hand. "You'll help me?"</p><p>One corner of her mouth tilted up. "You'll need it."</p><hr/><p>Zuko asked the twins to bring Nozomi to meet him in the royal family sitting room. Not the throne room, with its intimidating fires and giant map of the world, but a cozy, comfortable place. He made sure there would be refreshments, although he didn't know what she might like to eat, or if the pregnancy made that difficult in any way.</p><p>When the woman entered the room, the second thing he noticed about her—after her gigantic stomach, of course-was her youth. She was much closer to his own age than to his father's. In fact, she looked like she could be the younger sister, or perhaps cousin, of Zuko's mother. Noticing that felt awkward. Everything about this situation felt awkward, in fact. It was probably worse for her, he realized.</p><p>"Please sit," he invited her, gesturing to the couch across from him. This seating position put them on equal terms, which seemed to make her uneasy.</p><p>"I understand you are to be congratulated, Nozomi." He began.</p><p>"I'm honored to carry a child for the royal family." She answered meekly.</p><p>"You, uh, look well. I hope you feel well."</p><p>"The backache is the worst part now. I am only happy that I didn't suffer another miscarriage. The doctor says the wait will be over soon."</p><p>"I'm also glad for that." He felt so strange making small talk about pregnancy with his father's mistress. There was a silence that stretched on a bit, and as the person in the room with more authority, Zuko knew it was his job to end it. He put on his 'magnanimous ruler' voice.</p><p>"I'd like to offer you a place to stay here at the palace." He began. "Not in the servants' quarters. In the second floor hall above the Fire Lord's chambers. Near my own girlfriend's room." Then he cringed at himself, realizing that might have made it sound as if he wanted her to be a second girlfriend to him, which was not the case at all. He rushed to clarify, all self-assurance falling out of his tone. "I would like you to be…..an honored member of my family. My...aunt, let's say. And I want to make your child my heir. As you may have guessed. I'd hope to have some input on his or her education. But no more input than you yourself would have. You will have all of the help and support you could possibly ask for. You may spend as much or as little time with the child as you like." He finished lamely, realizing too late that he was promising her exactly what any normal new mother would have. Nurses, maids, and gold-trimmed baby blankets were all he could provide, and if she thought those weren't worth the freedom she'd lose by staying in the palace, he couldn't blame her. If she decided to take the kid and run, he would let her. But his purpose now was to prevent that.</p><p>"That would be an honor my lord." She was proper and subdued. "And I'm glad to hear you won't take him from me."</p><p>"Oh, no, I'd never dream of separating a child from his mother!" Another brief flash of his own mother's face came to mind. "I'm sorry if you were worried about that."</p><p>"You would have every right, I suppose." Nozomi shrugged. "It was in the documents my father signed. And…your father."</p><p>"That agreement was not nearly generous enough, so I'm offering you a new one." Zuko informed her. "In addition to the regular payments as long as you live, I would like to pay for your education. Even for your dowry and wedding, if you meet a man you like. Any opportunity you could want, you will have. I've made the same offers to the other women as well. This…situation shouldn't define your whole life. Although you'll always have a home here. Or enough money to purchase a comfortable house for yourself far from here, if that's what you'd prefer."</p><p>"Thank you, my lord."</p><p>"Li and Lo tell me you enjoy painting. Atisuto, the court painter, recommended this set of brushes and colors." He gestured to a case on the table. It was a transparent bribe for her affection and loyalty, but he also did have a sincere wish to do something nice for her. She opened the box, and he was gratified and relieved when her eyes lit up with uncomplicated, childlike delight. It seemed she wasn't cynical enough to see the calculating side of his openhandedness, which was remarkable, given her experience.</p><p>"These are the finest materials available! I've never been able to use such delicate brushes, such rich and subtle pigments!"</p><p>"You'll have as much of this as you can put to canvas." He promised. "And I asked Atisuto to give you lessons, if you wish."</p><p>"I would like that, but I may not be able to paint much for a while," she patted her belly.</p><p>"I understand." Zuko smiled. He continued. "I've informed the staff that you are to be addressed as 'my lady' or Lady Nozomi. The mother of the crown prince or princess is automatically elevated to nobility. And you have the freedom of the entire palace, of course. No need to stay shut in the servants' quarters like you have this whole time."</p><p>"Of course, my lord."</p><p>"There is only one thing I cannot allow you to do. I ask that you have no contact with my father. He is in solitary confinement, as I'm sure you know. He will not be informed of the child's existence. I hope that you can accept that, and that it does not pain you."</p><p>She shrank a little at the mention of the man. Noticing this, he probed. "I hope he treated you gently at least."</p><p>"He did not, my lord." She said shortly. "I have no desire to see him."</p><p>He felt disgust and sadness at the thought of his father's actions. Surprising himself, he also felt protective of this young woman who resembled his mother. "I'm sorry for anything you may have suffered at his hand. You will be safe now, I promise. And the child, too."</p><p>"Thank you, my lord."</p><p>"My own children, when they are born, hopefully, someday, would outrank yours in the line of succession, you understand. But I would like them to be raised together, as siblings, or cousins." He imagined this child might be to his own as his cousin Lu Ten had been to him: an older role model, a playmate and ally in mischief. "I hope they could be friends. And that….we can be friends."</p><p>"I would like that too, my lord," she answered shyly.</p><p>"Please, call me Zuko."</p><p>"Thank you, Zuko." She perked up a little, looking him in the eyes for the first time since coming into the room. "I want you to know that in addition to this generosity, I'm also grateful that you ended the war. I don't have to worry anymore about my brothers being drafted and killed. The Fire Nation war machine has used boys like them as cannon fodder for decades. As you know." She touched her face, as if embarrassed at referring to the incident that had led to his scarring. "So I had patriotic, as well as personal, reasons to welcome your father's downfall. I'm happy to see the direction you're beginning to lead our country, and I'm glad my child will strengthen <em>your</em> position rather than a tyrant's. To be included in your family in my own right is a much greater honor than any your father ever bestowed on me. I have nothing to give you for your kindness. Except this: would you like to name the child? Since he or she will be your heir?"</p><p>He smiled, touched at the thought. "Thank you, Nozomi."</p><hr/><p>Over dinner the following day, Zuko told Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph the news: "It turns out, while I was away last year, my father had some concubines here, and one of them is pregnant."</p><p>"Oh! I wondered about that." Aang remarked.</p><p>"You knew?" Zuko was surprised.</p><p>"Well, I know what he knows," Aang answered vaguely. "But I tried not to think about it."</p><p>"Oh, me too, believe me." Zuko shook his head emphatically.</p><p>"Kids always do that anyway, right? Pretend their parents never did that?" Toph questioned. "I know I do." She shuddered.</p><p>"It's worse if it's not <em>both</em> of your parents." Zuko reminded her. "And even worse than that when there is coercion or force involved."</p><p>An uncomfortable silence followed.</p><p>"Is she….all right?" Katara asked uncertainly.</p><p>"The mother? Um, I suppose. I met her. Her name's Nozomi. But we didn't really talk about the….psychological scars she might have, although she admitted he was….rough. I'm hoping she can put it behind her. She's moving to the second floor. The royal relative hallway."</p><p>"Next to us!" Sokka said, throwing his arms around Suki and Toph, on either side of him. "Your family is growing, Zuko!"</p><p>"It is." The Fire Lord grinned. "I'm going to have an heir. Much earlier than I ever hoped I would." The others didn't miss his blush, or his glance toward his girlfriend at those words. "Nozomi even offered to let me name the child."</p><p>Sokka and Toph immediately started spitballing baby names, mostly fire puns, jokes at Zuko's expense, or self-aggrandizing nicknames.</p><p>"I've already picked the name." Zuko told them, once they'd had enough fun with that. "I'd like to name the child after you, Aang. In a way. If that's all right with you." He said shyly to his friend.</p><p>"You'd give the crown prince of the Fire Nation an airbender name?" Katara asked, surprised.</p><p>"There's no Z in Aang; is that even allowed?" Sokka joked.</p><p>"No, that's not what I was thinking. I do need a Fire Nation name." Zuko admitted. "So, if it's a boy, Roku. And if it's a girl, Homura. That was the most recent female Avatar from the Fire Nation, several centuries ago."</p><p>"Roku and Homura are two of my favorite past names!" Aang was grinning. "What an honor, Zuko!"</p><p>"And a great big middle finger to your dear old dad," Sokka chuckled. "Naming his illegitimate child after the kid who took away his bending."</p><p>"I hadn't thought of it that way until just now, but it's definitely a bonus," Zuko admitted.</p><p>"And yet another signal to the world that you're rejecting Sozin's legacy, choosing your other great-grandfather instead." Aang understood.</p><p>"Exactly," Zuko was glad his friends got it.</p><p>"Do you think Nozomi would you like me to assist at the birth?" Katara offered.</p><p>"If I tell her what a great midwife you are, then I'm sure she would. She's due soon."</p><hr/><p>Zuko got word that Nozomi had gone into labor during one of his military reorganization meetings. He was able to finish the meeting, and then he grabbed Aang for firebending practice, figuring the physical outlet would keep him from getting too anxious. That worked pretty well, until a messenger brought him urgent word to come to the sickroom immediately.</p><p>When they arrived at the door of the sickroom, Aang hung back while the royal family physician came out to greet the Fire Lord, solemn-faced. "The labor is not going well, my lord. I propose I perform a surgery to remove the child."</p><p>Zuko was shocked. He'd never heard of such a thing. "Do you know how to do that?"</p><p>"Yes. I performed this procedure at the birth of your cousin, Lu Ten."</p><p>His jaw dropped. "Is that why—Uncle's wife—" he was ashamed to realize he didn't even remember the woman's name.</p><p>"Yes. She did not survive. Fire Lord Azulon ordered me to save the child at all costs. I presume you wish the same?"</p><p>Zuko didn't know what kind of relationship his uncle had had with his wife. Iroh had never spoken of her. He knew the marriage had been arranged, like that of his own parents. He knew how much Iroh had loved his son, how he still mourned the boy who hadn't lived much longer than his own 18 years. He asked himself if his uncle would have made the same choice his father had, if he had been allowed to decide. He wondered what his forgotten aunt would have chosen for herself and her child.</p><p>Then the young Fire Lord remembered his Circle of Praise. <em>Whatever Azulon would have done, I'll do the opposite</em>, he had vowed.</p><p>"No," he told the doctor firmly. "Save the woman, even if it costs the life of the child. My father used her abominably, and I won't allow his cruelty to end her life. She is not <em>disposable</em>. Get back in there and save her. And send Katara out here."</p><p>The physician hesitated.</p><p>"Do it!" He yelled.</p><p>The man retreated, fearful.</p><p>In another minute, Katara came out.</p><p>"That man just proposed cutting Nozomi open to get the baby out." Zuko informed his friend.</p><p>"But that would-" The healer was appalled.</p><p>"Kill her. I know. I told him not to do it, to prioritize her life over that of the child, if there is a choice. I need you to make sure he follows my order."</p><p>"All right," Katara agreed, stunned but resolute.</p><p>"How bad is it?" He asked, hoping the doctor was overreacting.</p><p>"It's the hardest labor I've ever seen, but maybe not quite as bad as he seems to think. He just seems impatient to me."</p><p>Zuko nodded, somewhat reassured.</p><p>"I'll do my best to save them both, and if I can't, to preserve her life." She promised, touching his arm. "And I'll keep an eye on that doctor." Determined, she went back into the delivery room.</p><p>Aang came forward and tried to soothe his friend. "You can trust Katara. She's a great midwife. I've seen her deliver two babies now. Well, I wasn't in the room, but I was around. She's really good at it and she knows what she's doing."</p><p>"I certainly trust her more than that doctor." Zuko muttered, still preoccupied.</p><p>"Would you like me to go get Mai? And the others?" The airbender offered. "Maybe some snacks too?"</p><p>"Sure. Thanks."</p><p>Zuko paced the hall, worried that he'd made the wrong choice, guaranteeing the deaths of both the mother and baby. If Nozomi was doomed anyway, it made sense to save the child while it was possible, he rationalized, doubting himself.</p><p>Mai arrived first, and then Sokka, Suki, and Toph. There wasn't much they could do except lounge in the hall and wait for word. Toph bent them some chairs from the stone floor and played with her meteorite bracelet. Sokka and Suki sharpened their weapons. Aang meditated.</p><p>Mai had brought a couple of plays with her, as well as some proposed legislation for Zuko to try to read, or for the two of them to read together. He kissed her cheek and thanked her for the effort, but said he couldn't concentrate. She whispered another suggestion in his ear, which made him smirk and nuzzle her hair a minute before shaking his head again. She shrugged and sat down by Suki, pulling out a knife from her sleeve to sharpen. Zuko resumed his pacing.</p><p>Three more hours passed. Aang attempted to distract Zuko with pai sho, tea, and yoga. When that didn't work, Sokka tried turtle ducks, tequila, and sword sparring, and also failed.</p><p>Finally, Katara came out of the sickroom door, her arms full of blankets, beaming. "Zuko, I'd like you to meet your brother, Roku." The child had a full head of black hair, and his eyes were alert.</p><p>"And Nozomi?" He asked anxiously.</p><p>"She's fine. The baby's shoulder was stuck." She explained. "We had to try a few different positions, and I had to really focus on both of their blood pressure, but he got out safely. She's resting."</p><p>"Thank you, Katara." Zuko's shoulders relaxed for the first time in hours.</p><p>The healer beamed at her friend. "I'm so happy I could help. Here," she passed him the child. The Fire Lord's posture was tense as he held the newborn's unfamiliar weight, but he seemed entranced by the tiny boy's frank gaze. Mai and Aang came close. The girl stroked the infant's soft hair, and the airbender counted the toes of a foot that had escaped from the blankets.</p><p>"I can tell you're meant to be a beautiful prince," Zuko murmured, touching his brother's delicate cheek.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Birth by Caesarean section is so common now that this scene might seem odd, but it wasn't always that way. Wikipedia says that the mortality rate for women undergoing C-sections in 1865 was 85%. This year is pretty close to where many fans consider the tech level of the ATLA universe at this time. Besides, doesn't it make the story more dramatic if a C-section is a death sentence, and Zuko has to make a choice to differentiate himself from his predecessors?</p><p>Please leave me a review if you liked reading about Zuko's continuing redemption arc!</p><p>Next chapter: more colony talks</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. The Avatar's Proposal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the colony negotiation committee reconvened in the Fire Nation, the first thing they found was that the appeals court had been a complete bust. Nearly every claimant who disagreed with the governor's judgement appealed his case, crying favoritism, which quickly made the court overloaded and ineffective. The governor of Yu Dao had submitted a letter of protest to the group, claiming that the existence of the court undermined his legitimacy and ability to do his job. Zuko bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying "I told you so."</p>
<p>They spent a couple days simply listening to the colonial citizens who had been invited to share their stories. Zuko had asked some of his correspondents to come, and Keui had done the same, so that both countries had citizens represented. Most of them had heartwarming stories of hard work paying off, of acceptance, and integration, and the creation of something fascinating and new, but a few told tales of exploitation, inequality, and discrimination. Aang and his friends left discouraged, wondering how those situations could be prevented in a land of such diversity.</p>
<p>Zuko invited Aang and Sokka to his sitting room to unwind with some tea after a long morning meeting was over.</p>
<p>"So, your fieriness, have you changed your mind since we were in Ba Sing Se?" Sokka wondered.</p>
<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"You still want to give up your claim on the colonies entirely?"</p>
<p>"Yes," Zuko responded carefully. "But I'm still not sure how to phrase it so that King Keui will do the same."</p>
<p>"But if you give them up, and King Keui gives then up, then who do they belong to?" Sokka questioned.</p>
<p>"To the people who live there." Aang answered reasonably.</p>
<p>"That might be the best solution, but only if that's what they want." The Water Tribe boy stipulated.</p>
<p>"Agreed." Zuko nodded. "If they're willing to do the hard work of governing themselves. And if they don't have loyalty to the Earth Kingdom."</p>
<p>"Then you think they should be independent?" Aang asked.</p>
<p>"Yes, that's a good way to put it." Sokka put in. "My dad told me how a village used to split when it got too big and sprawling, so that it would become two villages, independent of each other, each with its own elected leadership. It was kind of a theoretical discussion; that hasn't happened in the South for several generations…."</p>
<p>"So you think if we phrase it this way, the colonies becoming their own independent nation, that King Keui would be more likely to accept it and let them go peacefully?" Zuko asked.</p>
<p>"It might be your best bet." Sokka answered. "As long as you can make it seem like he's not losing anything."</p>
<p>"Yeah, that's the problem." Zuko sighed. "He feels entitled to those lands. For good reason."</p>
<p>"And anything <em>you</em> say, his advisors jump all over it," Sokka rolled his eyes.</p>
<p>"What if I weren't the one to say it?" Zuko mused, turning to Aang. "You're neutral. If independence is presented as<em> your</em> idea, it would be a lot harder for King Keui to say no. At least, he'd think it over, rather than rejecting it out of hand."</p>
<p>"All right. I can do that, Zuko." The airbender nodded.</p>
<p>"We should prepare for pushback," Sokka warned.</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" Aang looked worried.</p>
<p>"The first suggestion of independence will possibly be the most dangerous moment of these talks." Sokka explained. "It could descend fairly quickly to declarations of war."</p>
<p>Other two were silent a moment, knowing he could be right. They were war veterans who knew from history that the conclusion of one conflict often merely sowed the seeds for the next one. They also understood that their friendship could be on the line as well. It had taken a strange confluence of circumstances to bring the three together in the middle of one war; fighting on opposite sides of another conflict would certainly spell the end of cozy afternoons sharing tea.</p>
<p>"If Keui starts a war to get the colonies back, would you fight?" Aang asked the Fire Lord solemnly.</p>
<p>"No," Zuko told him decisively. "I don't believe my country has any right to them."</p>
<p>"What would you do, if war broke out between the Earth Kingdom and colonists who want independence?" Sokka wondered.</p>
<p>"Stay out of it." Zuko answered, a little more slowly. "If I wouldn't fight to keep them as colonies, then I certainly couldn't fight for their independence. My soldiers would have no interest in matters that don't concern us. There is a strong isolationist sentiment on the rise in the Fire Nation currently." He explained. "I haven't encouraged or discouraged it, but it's growing. I think it's <em>mostly</em> a good thing, but it's also a bit of an overcorrection. If we turn inward and focus on our own affairs, that means we aren't causing trouble in other parts of the world the way we have been for the past century, which is certainly a positive development. But it also means we wouldn't be disposed to help those who may need it, even allies or countrymen." Zuko went on, a bit more reflective. "In spite of that, in the event of war, I'd want to do my best to help in a humanitarian way. Without involving the military. Support those with ties to the Fire Nation peacefully. It would probably mean accepting lots of refugees, more than my country could possibly absorb without causing widespread hardship." It was the kind of scenario that kept the young monarch up at night. He would spiral from food shortages to protests, to violent unrest, to civil war, to his own assassination, to Aang and the others fallen or captured in his defense, to Mai and Nozomi jailed, and Roku used as a puppet, or perhaps even worse, his father's return to power…..</p>
<p>Seeing the shadow fall over his friend's face, Aang clapped him on the shoulder to snap him out of it. "We're with you, Zuko."</p>
<p>"Let's iron out the details," Sokka began. "What would this new country look like, and how do we spin it so that everyone thinks it's the greatest idea of all time?"</p>
<hr/>
<p>A couple evenings later, Aang and Katara cuddled on the couch in his suite. When the airbender told his girlfriend how nervous he was to make his proposal to the committee, she offered to go to the meeting to offer moral support.</p>
<p>"I already heard that Mai, and Suki, and even Toph are going, so I should too." She pointed out.</p>
<p>"Yeah, but the hospital is a better use of your time," He shook his head. "You could be saving lives instead of just watching me talk."</p>
<p>"It's not like I'm the only one who works at the hospital. We're a team." She explained. "If I'm not on the job, someone else will do the work, and the patients will be fine. You do want me to be there, don't you?" He looked down, sheepish, too shy to admit that he did. "I want to be there for you. I want to see you in action."</p>
<p>"You've seen me in action plenty times." He responded modestly.</p>
<p>"A new kind of action. Hopefully the only kind of action you ever see from now on: peacemaking. My boyfriend the diplomat." Aang felt his chest swell with pride, whether because he was proud of bringing peace, or because she was the one praising him, he didn't know. "And I know you're going to be just as good at that second job as you are at the first." She finished with a kiss on his cheek.</p>
<p>"I'm a good boyfriend?" He asked, a smile stealing over his lips.</p>
<p>"The best ever." Katara assured him.</p>
<p>He burst out laughing, delighted. Months ago, when Sokka had given him reason to doubt her commitment, he'd decided to make a secret project of becoming the perfect partner for her. And now she was telling him spontaneously, unprompted, that he'd succeeded. Even though Sokka had taken back his dire prediction, and Aang hadn't felt insecure in that way for a while, her words still meant the world to him. "Really?" He asked for confirmation, almost giddy.</p>
<p>"Of course!" She replied brightly. "I mean, I don't have a point of comparison. But I don't want any."</p>
<p>He squeezed her shoulders. "You're a great girlfriend too."</p>
<p>"Because I'm willing to take a day off from a demanding job to watch you give a speech? You set the bar pretty low."</p>
<p>"No, I've asked around, and you really are the best girlfriend of all time." He reiterated.</p>
<p>"Who did you ask?" She imagined him talking to Sokka or Zuko about her, which seemed like it might have been awkward.</p>
<p>"My past lives. I told them all about you."</p>
<p>"Wow," she was taken aback. "That's….very flattering." It had almost cosmic significance, to be accepted as the Avatar's partner among the thousands of partners of past Avatars. Aang didn't have any living family to introduce her to, so this was the next closest thing, and she was honored.</p>
<p>"Remember, I said you would measure up," he reminded her of her silly insecurity from their first date.</p>
<p>She leaned in for a kiss. Just as their embrace was about to deepen, there was a knock at the door. They pulled apart and arranged themselves in a more proper posture, before Aang called out, "Come in!"</p>
<p>It was Sokka. "Zuko sent me to get you, buddy. He wants to go over the proposal draft one more time." He rolled his eyes, letting them know what he thought of their friend's perfectionism.</p>
<p>The couple got up from the couch. "See you at breakfast tomorrow morning before the big meeting, then?" Aang asked Katara.</p>
<p>"Sure," she gave him a quick peck on the lips, heading for the door. Then she paused when she got close to her brother. "You…..knocked." She observed suspiciously.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I knocked." Her brother glanced to the side, as if that had been a normal thing for him to do.</p>
<p>"You didn't barge in like you usually do."</p>
<p>"I guess I…..realized that I appreciated how the servants knock on my door when I'm with Suki…" Sokka seemed embarrassed.</p>
<p>"Since when have you ever put yourself in my shoes and adjusted your actions accordingly?" Katara crossed her arms.</p>
<p>"I can be considerate!" Her brother argued.</p>
<p>"Of course you <em>can</em>, you just never <em>choose</em> to."</p>
<p>"I choose to be considerate of the people I trust," Sokka stuck his nose in the air.</p>
<p>"Then why is this new?" Katara inquired skeptically.</p>
<p>"Maybe it's not you I'm trust, it's him," Sokka pointed to her boyfriend.</p>
<p>"Of all the patriarchal bullshit-" Katara began, reddening in fury.</p>
<p>Aang put his hand on her arm to try to help her calm down. "Sweetie, isn't the effect the same? He's showing respect for our relationship. We appreciate your consideration for our privacy, Sokka." Aang bowed formally.</p>
<p>"You're very welcome, Aang." Sokka bowed in response, showing pointed politeness to the airbender as if it were a jab against his sister. "It's so nice to be appreciated. Your gratitude makes me want to continue to….knock on doors."</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah. Zuko's waiting." The waterbender waved them away impatiently.</p>
<p>Sokka elbowed Aang on the way down the hall away from his sister. "Hey, if you can get <em>her</em> to calm down and stop fighting…"</p>
<p>"You think she was the only one I was manipulating into de-escalation?" The Avatar shot his friend a crooked grin.</p>
<p>Sokka's eyes widened and he laughed. "Oh, you're good!"</p>
<hr/>
<p>The meeting room buzzed with activity, as the delegates greeted each other, but the Avatar sat silent in his chair, staring into space.</p>
<p>"Ready to make history, buddy?" Sokka clapped his hand on Aang's shoulder, but was surprised when he saw panic in his younger friend's eyes. "Are you ok?" Sokka whispered, seeing his sweat.</p>
<p>"I don't know," Aang swallowed. <em>The most dangerous moment of these talks</em>, Sokka had said. The airbender was surprised to feel more intimidated than he ever had, including by a comet-powered Ozai. He'd had a sense of relief and inevitability entering that battle, and he'd been in his customary defensive position; now he was taking the initiative to stir things up. If his poor delivery failed to convince anyone, or if he and his friends were wrong about what was best for the world, his words could spark a global conflict, and that was so much worse than facing a physical confrontation, risking only his own life. He might be about to undo everything he'd achieved since waking from his frozen sleep, throwing the world into chaos worse than the war he'd just ended.</p>
<p>"I could do it instead," the Water Tribe boy offered. "I mean, I can't speak as the transcendent voice of ancient historical wisdom, but at least they won't say I'm biased, unlike Zuko."</p>
<p>Aang caught Katara's eyes in the crowd. She smiled at him, and suddenly he felt capable of anything. "No, I can do it. This should come from the Avatar." Sokka nodded and took his seat.</p>
<p>After the meeting was called to order, Aang was the first on the agenda to speak.</p>
<p>He stood and began. "I would like to propose the creation of an independent nation on the disputed territories. This new country would have no ties to either the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation, except those of friendship and trade. On this land, some of which was sacred to my people, firebenders, earthbenders, waterbenders, nonbenders, and…..maybe someday more than one airbender, would be welcome to build their dreams. Not separately, but together." His voice grew in strength and enthusiasm as he realized how deeply he believed in the ideals underlying the proposal. "As one community united not by common ancestry, but by mutual love, and a vision of the beautiful harmony that can be achieved only through embracing diversity."</p>
<p>The Avatar's utopian vision was met with stony silence.</p>
<p>"I second the motion." Zuko broke the tense quiet. "As far as I am concerned, this proposal solves our dilemma at its root and represents a fair compromise. My country has no moral claim to occupy and rule this land, and I am willing to give up any legal or historical interest the Fire Nation may have, in order to right the wrongs of the past. I believe an independent nation, especially one with a constitution that puts all citizens on equal legal standing, regardless of their country of origin, would be the best path forward for the entire world."</p>
<p>There was another moment of quiet, and then all at once, an uproar among the Earth Kingdom delegation. Keui's advisors protested:</p>
<p>"Equality is not possible when you're dealing with the Fire Nation!"</p>
<p>"Legal equality is not enough to make up for a century of colonial oppression!"</p>
<p>"These lands rightfully belong to the Earth Kingdom!"</p>
<p>King Keui held up his hand for his people to quiet so he could speak. He looked right at Zuko, his eyes steely behind his glasses. "Well, Fire Lord? Will you send your army to prevent these territories from being reabsorbed into the Earth Kingdom?"</p>
<p>Aang jumped in, so that Zuko wouldn't have to answer. "Let's not even discuss under what circumstances and for what reasons we'll go to war. Violence is not an option. From the beginning, the whole point of these meetings has been to<em> peacefully </em>transition the colonies into….something else. We all agree—even Zuko, to his credit—that these territories should not continue to be under the control of the Fire Nation. And today we have some help we didn't have when we were meeting in Ba Sing Se. We have several people in this room who came from the colonies exactly for the purpose of telling us what they and their communities want. Maybe now would be a good time to hear from them."</p>
<p>There followed a quick survey of the colonial citizens at the meeting. Most of them were a bit at a loss about the idea of independence, since it was the first time they'd ever heard about it. Despite this, they were open to learning more about it. A few said that whether they would support independence or not would depend a lot on what kind of government the new nation would have, which seemed perfectly reasonable. There were only a couple people who were adamantly for or against Aang's proposal.</p>
<p>"Maybe the people of the colonies should be the ones to decide for themselves." The airbender offered. That felt like another compromise, another fair and neutral proposal from the Avatar.</p>
<p>"But how can they decide if they don't agree?" King Keui asked, confused.</p>
<p>"They could have an election." Sokka suggested.</p>
<p>So that was how it was decided that a referendum would be held, in which the people who lived in the cities formerly colonized by the Fire Nation, would decide their own destiny.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Sorry if the chapter title had you expecting a marriage proposal! I hope the sweet Kataang scene made up for it.</p>
<p>Please leave me a review!</p>
<p>Next week: The Gaang revisits the Fire Nation school</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Education</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to seanbw, a great fanfic writer and friend from the Kataang Discord. Check out his story "Aang Alone" on ff.net</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I have a project in mind I could use your help on," Zuko told his friends. "All of you." He brought them to a conference room with a large table piled with books. "These are the history textbooks used in the Fire Nation schools. I think the national curriculum needs an update. I'd really appreciate it if you all would look at these and tell me what you think." He left the room and shut the door.</p>
<p>"Why do I have to be here? I can't read." Toph crossed her arms.</p>
<p>"We could use another Earth Kingdom opinion," Katara pointed out. "And you probably have more formal schooling than Sokka and I do." She and her brother had read every book in their village, and the neighboring one too, but there hadn't been a lot available to them, and they knew there were a lot of gaps in their knowledge. That was why as soon as they left the tribe, they had dove in to programs of self-study, Katara in anatomy and healing, and Sokka in engineering, both in history.</p>
<p>"Private tutors." The earthbender shrugged. "I only let them work me as hard as I wanted to."</p>
<p>"Well, everything I ever learned is a century out of date." Aang pointed out wryly.</p>
<p>The teenagers spent a couple hours looking through the textbooks. They took turns reading aloud for Toph, stopping to remark on the inaccuracies and distortions, while the others paged and skimmed, looking for topics they were interested in. The longer they spent perusing the books, the more annoyed they became.</p>
<p>Suki and Aang were both particularly offended by the way Avatar Kyoshi was portrayed, as an uncouth, unsophisticated, and unfeminine bumpkin, who was inexplicably also a brutal, calculating warlord who gloried in gratuitous bloodshed.</p>
<p>"Well, that's bullshit," Toph said in her usual blunt way, when she heard her native province of Gaoling described as an uncultivated wasteland.</p>
<p>"And the stereotypes!" Sokka exclaimed. He picked up a book and read a quote. "'The typical Water Tribe man is stoic, laconic, unintelligent, and loves his moonshine.'"</p>
<p>Katara snickered. "And the women?"</p>
<p>"Passive and submissive, which makes them all the more beautiful." He showed her an illustration of a scantily clad brown-skinned girl gazing up adoringly at a Fire Nation soldier.</p>
<p>Her eyes widened in rage, and Aang had to put his hand on her shoulder to help her calm down. After a few deep breaths, she was able to respond. "It's infuriating." Katara agreed. "I'd be mad at Zuko for showing us this crap, except I think he wants to update these books and make corrections."</p>
<p>"What does it say about people from the Earth Kingdom?" Toph wondered.</p>
<p>"That you're unreasonably stubborn, and brainwashed by the Earth King." Aang summed it up.</p>
<p>"<em>We're</em> brainwashed?" Suki scoffed. "These books themselves are like…..mind soap."</p>
<p>"It also says you take up an entire huge, empty, fertile continent, and manage the land inefficiently." Sokka informed his girlfriend.</p>
<p>"Thinly veiled self-justification for conquest," Aang diagnosed. "At least your people aren't portrayed as flighty, lazy idlers. And, um, libertines."</p>
<p>"The way these books fetishize the Air Nomad orgies, it seems like the authors really wished they could have joined in," Sokka joked.</p>
<p>"Fertility festivals," Aang corrected, then sighed. "It makes sense, right? Of course this is what the Fire Nation thinks about the rest of the world. They wouldn't be able to stomach committing the atrocities of the last hundred years if they saw us as human."</p>
<p>"You don't think Zuko believes this, do you?" Katara asked uncomfortably.</p>
<p>"Nah. At least, not anymore." Sokka allowed. "He probably did back when he still had that ugly ponytail."</p>
<p>"That's true." Katara nodded. "Before he got to know any of us."</p>
<p>"Maybe that's the problem." Aang realized. "It's easy to believe in stereotypes when you don't personally know anyone from a particular group. So maybe the solution is just bringing people together so that they can make friends!"</p>
<p>"Do you mean some kind of exchange program?" Sokka remembered the program Zuko and Chief Arnook had collaborated to begin when he had visited the North. It was typical of Aang's idealism that he thought simple contact with people from other countries could end such deep-rooted prejudices, but Sokka supposed cultural exchanges would be a positive step. At any rate, they couldn't hurt, as long as the program was well-managed.</p>
<p>"Yeah! Wouldn't that be great?" The airbender enthused. "Everyone could have their own Team Avatar, with friends from all the nations of the world!"</p>
<p>When they met back up with Zuko and Mai for dinner, the friends proposed a completely new curriculum.</p>
<p>"Those textbooks are terrible, Zuko!" Aang declared. "We agreed that you need to throw them all out and start from scratch."</p>
<p>"Oh, I know." The Fire Lord acknowledged. "I hope you weren't too offended by them. I thought if you saw them for yourselves, you might understand…."</p>
<p>"Why your people are how they are and did what they did?" Sokka asked. "Yeah, it does explain some things."</p>
<p>"We also thought you should make another exchange program." Aang suggested. "The one in the North was for adults and professionals, Fire Nation engineers for Water Tribe healers, right? But what if you had similar program for teenagers and students?"</p>
<p>"You think parents from the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe would <em>want</em> to send their kids here?" Zuko looked surprised. "I thought they'd be too scared of us."</p>
<p>"They might if you offered free education," Katara suggested. "Especially for people who wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity."</p>
<p>"You have the best universities in the world, right, Zuko?" Sokka reminded him. "I'm sure lots of people would love to come here and study. You could spread your technical know-how around the world."</p>
<p>"I like the idea," Zuko waffled, "but there are only so many spots at the university. My people see those positions as belonging to their own children, so they probably wouldn't like 'foreigners' coming in and taking those seats away from them."</p>
<p>"Yeah, but you were planning to expand the universities anyway." Mai reminded him.</p>
<p>"That's true." Zuko nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I knew you all would challenge me, and that's why I asked for your help. When we rewrite the curriculum, I was hoping to get scholars from around the world to work on it together, to include different perspectives."</p>
<p>"That sounds like exactly what you need. Maybe we can work on a pilot lesson and do a trial run to help get them started." Aang proposed. "I was wondering if I'd get an excuse to go back to that school….."</p>
<p>"Are you sure they'd <em>want </em>you back?" Katara asked, surprised. "Sokka and I had to pretend to be his parents because he got in so much trouble." She explained to Zuko.</p>
<p>"You enrolled in a Fire Nation school?" Zuko gaped in shock.</p>
<p>"Oh, yeah. We blended in really well." Sokka assured him. "Wearing red clothes, eating spicy food. Toph even wore shoes. Sort of."</p>
<p>"How did you….." Zuko looked at the airbender and gestured to his forehead.</p>
<p>"Oh! I grew my hair out and used a headband to cover my forehead." Aang explained.</p>
<p>"Huh." Zuko tilted his head to the side, bemused. "I'm trying to imagine you with hair…."</p>
<p>"He looked pretty great," Katara teased, which made her boyfriend blush.</p>
<p>"The best part was when we threw an amazing dance party in a cave," Aang went on, glancing at the waterbender shyly.</p>
<p>"Do I need to hose you two down?" Sokka rolled his eyes.</p>
<p>"What were you doing this morning, Zuko?" Suki asked, changing the subject.</p>
<p>The Fire Lord sighed. "The army and navy are fighting over funding and resources. I had to bring the major general and the commodore together and show them all the numbers at the same time. It took almost two hours, but now I think they both finally understand that the other branch is getting cut just as much as theirs."</p>
<p>"All in a day's work for Zuko the Peacemaker," Mai said sardonically.</p>
<p>"Congratulations, Zuko, what a great moniker!" Aang patted his friend on the back.</p>
<p>"It's not meant to be a compliment." The firebender informed him. "My critics think it's a way to call me a wimp."</p>
<p>"Peace is seen as….. a bad thing here?" Aang looked puzzled.</p>
<p>"You know real men fight, don't you?" Zuko admonished him sarcastically. "That stepping away from physical confrontation is basically admitting that you're a weak child? Or, worse, a woman?"</p>
<p>Aang looked dismayed. "I hate to insult someone's culture, but that sounds…toxic."</p>
<p>"I agree, and it's one of the things I want to reform. But changing hearts and minds is a lot harder than winning a war."</p>
<p>"It's hard because your people have been brainwashed by fire supremacist propaganda for decades." Aang explained.</p>
<p>"Yeah, like <em>The Boy in the Iceberg</em>." Katara reminded them all of the terrible play they'd seen in Ember Island in the days before the comet.</p>
<p>"You got to face it head on, Sparky. Beat the bad propaganda with good propaganda." Toph punched her fist into her palm. "Like crushing one rock with an even bigger, heavier rock."</p>
<p>"What if we wrote a new play? Like <em>The Boy in the Iceberg</em>, but the true story?" Sokka suggested.</p>
<p>"And with better actors, and better writers, and better costumes, and better effects, and just everything <em>better</em>." Aang enthused.</p>
<p>"That play was so terrible, it wouldn't be hard to do something better." Katara shook her head.</p>
<p>"Especially with such great source material!" Aang put in.</p>
<p>"I'll write the jokes!" Sokka volunteered.</p>
<p>"You've been writing the whole story," Suki elbowed him proudly.</p>
<p>Zuko stroked his chin. "My new press secretary has been suggesting that kind of thing to me for a while. I haven't wanted to do it because it seems so intimate, so personal, letting the whole country know what I went through."</p>
<p>"They already know the worst parts of it." Katara shrugged. "And it would let them get to know the real you."</p>
<p>"You could control the narrative and put it in your terms." Sokka pointed out.</p>
<p>"And they could get to know Mai too, and accept her as future Fire Lady." Katara said, then cringed a little at herself, afraid she'd put her foot in her mouth by discussing her friends' relationship this way, as if it were already settled.</p>
<p>Aang was even less tactful. "Then you wouldn't have fan girls and aristocratic moms after you all the time, if everybody understands how happy you two are."</p>
<p>Zuko glanced at Mai. "All right, I'm convinced. Let's put on a play!"</p>
<hr/>
<p>The school looked a little different from the way it had when Aang had briefly attended. There were no giant posters of Fire Lord Ozai in every room. Zuko had ordered such things taken down, but instead of replacing them with his own face, he had directed schools to display the Fire Nation symbol, or instructional or inspirational materials, such as maps or landscape paintings.</p>
<p>The lesson began with the newly rewritten Fire Nation oath, which was also displayed on the wall, since the students had only been saying it for a few months: "My life I entrust to my country. With my hands I work for worldwide harmony. With my mind I seek ways to better my country. With my feet I walk a path of peace and justice."</p>
<p>Then the teacher introduced the guests stiffly. "At the request of Fire Lord Zuko, we welcome these guests to share their perspectives about world history."</p>
<p>Sokka began the lesson with a plea for the students to give them a chance. "It might be hard for you to understand and accept all that we've got to say about the past hundred years, since you've been learning something completely different your entire lives, but I really hope you can keep an open mind and hear us out. Here's a story. My sister Katara and I fought a lot when we were kids. Well, we still fight sometimes. Most of you probably have siblings; you know what it's like. Our parents would always ask us what happened when we were fighting, and each of us had a totally different story. My story made me look good, and her story made her look good. So mom and dad had to try to figure out who to believe. Usually they just punished us both. But that's kind of what your history lessons have been like. Except you've only ever heard one story. Have you heard the saying, 'history is written by the victors'? For the last hundred years, your country has been winning, and writing the history to make it seem like you deserved to rule the world. Any other perspectives on the war have been suppressed, or" he glanced at Aang, "completely wiped out. Almost completely. I'm just asking you to be receptive to the idea that maybe you've been lied to. Maybe the Fire Nation isn't so perfect, and maybe the other countries are not that bad."</p>
<p>Then the rest of Team Avatar presented their people's histories to the class. Katara told them about the raids on the Southern Water Tribe. Toph and Suki detailed the effects of colonization on the Earth Kingdom, and corrected a few myths about their home continent and its people. Finally, Aang described his people's peaceful way of life, and the way they had been attacked and slaughtered.</p>
<p>One kid in the back, who seemed to enjoy being 'edgy' for the attention it got him, spoke up. "The airbenders just lost because they were weak."</p>
<p>A tense silence followed those words. Aang's friends moved closer to him; Katara touched his arm. The Avatar's head turned to the side a little, and he raised his hand slightly, indicating to his friends that he was able to respond calmly enough. His voice was soft but intense as he replied, focusing on the disaffected teen in the last row.</p>
<p>"If you really think that, then you don't understand either airbenders, or true strength. But that's to be expected. I'm the only airbender you've ever met, and your ideas about what it means to be strong or weak have been poisoned by fire supremacist ideology. If we're talking only about brute power, the Air Nomads would easily have been strong enough to defeat even Sozin's comet-powered army. I might be biased, but I think air is the most powerful and dangerous of the four elements. Not because I can use it to fly, but because we all need it to survive. I suppose you didn't know that all master airbenders have the ability to suck the air out of your lungs, suffocating you instantly." The face of the boy in the back paled. Aang went on. "But, of course, now that you know that, you'll want to know why the airbenders didn't <em>use</em> that ability. You'll say that their <em>choice</em> not to use it was what made them weak. Ozai thought that." He shrugged nonchalantly. "You know what happened to him. But in order for me know if you're even capable of understanding that choice, I'd have to ask you: Do you believe in anything? Enough to die for it? Do you love anyone? Enough to die for them?"</p>
<p>He paused. The boy shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't sure if he was expected to actually answer. Aang raised his eyebrow, and he saw that he did need to speak. "Uh, yeah."</p>
<p>"Good." Aang nodded curtly. "That means you're not irredeemable. I just told you that the airbenders were ambushed, taken by surprise. The children and old ones were held hostage, so that those who could have fought surrendered to save them. And then the Fire Nation commanders didn't have enough honor to keep their word and let the hostages go. They massacred them all. You think it takes strength to kill someone who's already surrendered? I say it just takes cruelty, and soullessness. True strength recognizes that there are things worth dying for, and that certain kinds of life are not worth living. We believe that killing another taints your spirit, so that the rest of your life is haunted and cursed. But even if you don't believe that's true, or that it's not true during war, surely your own culture's notions of honor are violated by the situation I just described. If you really think it's weak to give yourself up to save the life of someone you love, then you don't understand the value of love or life or <em>anything</em>, and there's nothing I have to say to you."</p>
<p>After a long moment of quiet solemnity, a brave girl raised her voice. "Why didn't you take revenge on the Fire Nation? Do to us what was done to your people?"</p>
<p>Aang shook his head. He sounded tired and resigned. "Because I know that ordinary people like all of you are good at heart, and that even the soldiers who killed my people were just following orders. It's the leaders I blame, like Sozin. Or Azulon, he's the one who ordered the raids on the Water Tribe that killed Katara and Sokka's mother." He gestured to his friends. "And now that Ozai is no longer in power, and the Fire Nation has a good leader, I'm content knowing that there will be peace. And so I can just enjoy getting to know people like you."</p>
<p>"But how do you keep from being angry all the time?" The girl pressed.</p>
<p>Aang took a deep breath. His voice was soft and reflective as he answered. "I've been angry, but I've tried to sit with that feeling and let it pass. My people's philosophies, and our meditation practices help me with that. Sometimes when I calm my mind, it's like they're reaching back through time and helping me survive losing them. Now I'm more sad than angry. My grief doesn't ever go away. Sometimes it almost knocks me down out of nowhere. The chime of bells, the sight of a mountain landscape, or the scent of a fruit pie baking…..It's been a hundred years, but for me it feels like less than two, since the Air Temples were bustling with thousands of people with bald heads and tattoos just like mine. I miss them every day. If it weren't for my new family, I don't know what I'd do." Katara's hand touched his shoulder, and he covered it with his own, sharing a small smile that thanked her for helping him to be strong.</p>
<p>The class was silent. A few girls had tears openly streaming down their faces, while a couple guys tried to hide their sniffling.</p>
<p>"I mean, I thought I was sad when my fire ferret died," one of them muttered.</p>
<p>"My great-great-grandfather served in Fire Lord Sozin's army, and our family has always been so proud of him. We have a portrait of him in our house, and he's wearing all these medals." A boy admitted uncomfortably.</p>
<p>"Well, now you know what he did." Sokka replied flatly. "How do you feel seeing that portrait now?"</p>
<p>"Queasy."</p>
<p>"You can't control what your ancestors did, but you can control how you see them and their legacy, and what you do with it." Aang answered. "Your nation's leader is a perfect example of that. His ancestors have more responsibility for causing the war than anybody, so he's making it his job to fix their mistakes, as best as he can. Part of that was sending us here, so you all could start to learn the whole truth."</p>
<p>"What Fire Lord Zuko has done in his home is cover up the paintings of his father, grandfather, and great grandfather." Katara shared. "He didn't destroy them, but he doesn't want anyone to have to see them. He doesn't want to honor them anymore. Just an idea."</p>
<p>The teacher stood up, ready to end the lesson for the day. "Any other questions for our guests?"</p>
<p>A boy looked at Aang with narrow, suspicious eyes. "Have you ever played hide and explode?" He asked.</p>
<p>Aang's eyes lit up. "As a matter of fact, I have. I wondered if you'd recognize me, so I brought this." He pulled a red cloth out of his pocket and tied it around his forehead, so that the triangular yellow symbol on it pointed down, in imitation of his arrow.</p>
<p>A gasp went up from the students.</p>
<p>"It's Kuzon!"</p>
<p>"No way! That kid is a legend!"</p>
<p>"The Avatar went to our school?"</p>
<p>The history teacher gaped. "He <em>was</em> there a hundred years ago."</p>
<p>A tall boy with big shoulders in the back row laughed loudly. "Hey, that means I fought the Avatar!" He put up his arms in victory. "I fought the Avatar and survived!"</p>
<p>The boy's classmates jeered at him:</p>
<p>"He's a pacifist, you idiot."</p>
<p>"Of course you survived, he wouldn't even kill Fire Lord Ozai."</p>
<p>"I saw that fight; you couldn't even land a punch, Hide."</p>
<p>"That's enough," the teacher broke in. "Let's thank our guests."</p>
<p>"Thanks for welcoming me and my friends back to your school!" Aang bowed to the class as they were dismissed.</p>
<p>As the gang got ready to leave, a girl with blunt bangs approached the airbender shyly. "Kuzon- I mean Av—"</p>
<p>"Hi, On Ji. You can call me Aang."</p>
<p>She blushed at his recognition. "Thanks for coming back to our school. I was going to ask you if you could teach us some more dances."</p>
<p>"Yeah, that was part of the plan," he told her, grinning. "We already talked to your principal about it. We're going to hold a dance in the school gym tomorrow night. Not a secret one in a cave this time. I know it's less fun, but we have to be all official and get parental permission and everything, since we're here representing the Fire Lord."</p>
<p>"You know Fire Lord Zuko?" Her eyes widened in starstruck wonder.</p>
<p>"Um, yeah, we do," Katara stepped in, taking Aang's hand with a hint of possessiveness. "We also know his girlfriend Mai. They're really serious."</p>
<p>"I have a new boyfriend too," On Ji volunteered. "Not Hide. I dumped him after your dance party. I probably have you to thank for that. He was way too controlling, and a bully too."</p>
<p>"I'm glad you found somebody better than that jerk. You should bring him to the dance! We'll see you there!" Wrapping his arm around Katara's shoulder's, Aang waved goodbye to On Ji.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The dance was a hit, of course. The Fire Nation students were excited to recreate the previous year's epic party, and dressed to impress. Aang wore his regular draped tunic, but his friends put on their Fire Nation red clothes. A group of boys gathered around Toph, who was showing off her metalbending with her meteorite bracelet. Sokka continued his lecture on what he called 'multiple historical perspectives' to a few admiring girls, while Suki looked on in amusement. The traditional Fire Nation dances that Aang and a hired dance instructor taught the students involved many couples turning and spinning in formations, changing partners and changing back.</p>
<p>Aang and Katara danced as a couple, and in a larger group of students for almost two hours, before the waterbender had to insist on leaving the dance floor.</p>
<p>"Can we take a break? I need a drink!"</p>
<p>"Sure." He followed her to a table where cups of water were set out, and they found a seat on a bench nearby. "We don't have to dance every single song, you know."</p>
<p>"You know how much I like dancing with you." She squeezed his hand. "Ever since that night, we've made a point of taking every opportunity we can to dance."</p>
<p>"Not quite every opportunity," he disagreed.</p>
<p>"When have we not danced?" She wondered.</p>
<p>"We only dance when there's music. Or when we're at a party. We could have danced every single day. Before the comet, after the comet, morning, noon, night….."</p>
<p>She remembered Zuko saying something like that a long time ago. "Are you saying you'd like to dance more?" She asked.</p>
<p>"I certainly wouldn't mind."</p>
<p>"Me neither." They shared a smile. Then Katara broke eye contact and looked around the room at the happy Fire Nation students. "It's strange to be with these kids again. But nice. They're nice kids. And it's fun to remember our first dance. That night you made it clearer than you ever had up to that date, how you felt about me."</p>
<p>"You did to me too." Aang pointed out. "You took my hand, and I could tell that you enjoyed dancing with me. You even gave me a kiss on the cheek."</p>
<p>"You say that like you remember each one."</p>
<p>"I do. The ones before the comet anyway. For a long time that was all I had."</p>
<p>"Whenever we talk about that time, it makes me feel bad for keeping you in the friend zone. For stringing you along."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, I don't want to make you feel bad. I like thinking about it. It makes me even more happy and grateful that we're finally together. And the friend zone is a great place to be! Being your friend is amazing! You never strung me along. You genuinely didn't know how you felt, and weren't ready for a relationship. It was completely valid."</p>
<p>"But it caused you pain," The skin between Katara's eyes was pinched in sympathy.</p>
<p>"I don't know if pain is the right word for it." Aang corrected her. "Sometimes that longing was kind of delicious."</p>
<p>"Really? Because you knew someday I'd like you back?"</p>
<p>"Not necessarily. I mean, I tried to keep faith. It just didn't make sense to me that I would feel so strongly for you without you feeling <em>anything</em> in return. But I could never be certain." In some ways, he still wasn't sure. But he didn't say that; it would have been pressuring her.</p>
<p>"Then how does that work?" She questioned, not understanding. "How can that uncertainty feel good?"</p>
<p>"I don't know. Maybe I just feel that way in retrospect." He admitted. "If I'd had to watch you go off with some other guy, I would not have enjoyed that. But caring about somebody is always good. I liked noticing you, paying you that kind of attention, even without you noticing me." He laughed. "It's a good thing I liked it because I couldn't help it!"</p>
<p>"I think I know what you mean about that. Like that evening on the balcony in Ba Sing Se, I just had to kiss you. And I did <em>notice </em>you before that, I just…..held back. I was scared." Katara looked down. "I'm….still scared."</p>
<p>"I can understand that." Aang answered slowly. "This, between us, it's…..big. Strong. But I'm more scared of the alternative."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"Scared of losing you. Or making some big mistake that hurts you. Or just failing to appreciate you."</p>
<p>"You appreciate me plenty. Aang, I….."</p>
<p>"Aang?" They looked up and saw On Ji, her smile fading as she saw that she'd interrupted a private moment. "I'm sorry, I'll—"-she turned around.</p>
<p>"That's all right. What is it, On Ji?" The airbender asked, facing the Fire Nation girl, but keeping his girlfriend's hand in his.</p>
<p>"Um, we wanted you to lead us in another dance. I forgot the steps….."</p>
<p>Aang looked back to Katara, as if ready to ask her whether she wanted him to go or stay, but she was already brushing herself off and standing.</p>
<p>"Let's go, sweetie. I want to learn the dance too."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Please leave me a review! Hit follow so you can get an email when I update! I post new chapters every Friday.</p>
<p>Next week: Kataangst in a fountain</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. In the Fountain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to chekhovsgunman, a wonderful reader whose flatteringly verbose reviews make my day every time.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katara sat down to lunch in the palace dining room. Zuko had made a habit of sharing a big midday meal with his friends whenever they were all together in the palace. Nozomi, baby Roku, and Zuko's assistant Joshu, a slim, energetic young man only a few years older than his employer, usually joined them as well. The chef had outdone himself, serving roast duck, udon noodles, smoked sea slug, and vegetable dumplings for Aang. The group of teens chatted about their environmental projects, the feedback they'd been receiving about the new history curriculum, and the latest news from Yu Dao. They lingered at the table, enjoying each others' company for a few more minutes before returning to their separate tasks for the afternoon.</p><p>Sokka was the one to finally break the spell. "Well, I'm off," He stood up, stretched and patted his full belly. "Back to Piandao's."</p><p>"You're not going too?" Katara asked Suki, noticing she'd stayed seated.</p><p>"I asked her to do a bit of security consulting with my bodyguards," Zuko explained.</p><p>"My favorite warrior, out to protect the poor weak Fire Lord," Sokka leaned down to give Suki a quick kiss on his way out the door. "Love you," he called over his shoulder.</p><p>"Love you too," she responded happily, waving at her boyfriend as he walked off.</p><p>"Barf," Toph elbowed Aang.</p><p>Watching her brother and his girlfriend declare their feelings so casually, in that offhand way, made something snap inside Katara. The greatest gift, and they just tossed it around like it was nothing. Intellectually, she knew the words couldn't be wasted or worn out, but seeing others enjoy an easygoing intimacy that had inexplicably been denied to her was maddening.</p><p>She had noticed that she seemed to vacillate wildly between efforts to be breezy and casual with Aang, to keep her boyfriend at the emotional distance that she assumed the Air Nomads had used, and desperately grasping for closeness, almost always physically. Since she was afraid to talk about what was really bothering her, she used her body instead, pushing them to the edge of what they'd agreed 'go slowly' meant. It wasn't usually very satisfying, but she couldn't seem to help herself.</p><p>When everyone left the dining room and scattered, she grabbed her boyfriend's arm and pulled him into the nearest bedroom she could find, a generic guest room. She pushed him down on the bed and practically pounced on top of him. She kissed him just the way he liked it, but with somewhat more speed and force than usual, pushing her tongue deep into his mouth until she felt him moan. He was wearing his tunic draped over his left shoulder, which made it easy for her to reach her hands in and run her fingers over his chest and sides. She hiked up her skirt a little so she could straddle his hips and rock against him, something she'd never dared try before. His hands moved to her waist, encouraging her. <em>Why won't you say it?</em> She screamed silently into their kiss. <em>Isn't this enough for you? </em>When she moved her lips to his neck, sucking forcefully on his pulse point, she heard him speak up.</p><p>"Sweetie, are you ok? I'm enjoying this, but you seem...off."</p><p>She sat up and pulled away, turning her body inward. "I'm sorry if that was too much."</p><p>"No, that's not it." Aang shook his head. He doubted such a thing existed for him, where she was concerned. "C'mon, let's go to the fountain." He grabbed her hand and led her through the palace halls to the deepest fountain on the grounds. When they arrived there, he kicked off his shoes and waded in.</p><p>"Here. Figure eight." He sent a globe of water her way, and she returned it almost automatically, climbing in after him.</p><p>As they passed the water back and forth, Katara started to calm down and feel more centered. She felt sheepish about those intense kisses now; she knew jumping on him like that wasn't the best way to soothe her anxiety. They focused on precision with the waterbending form, not looking at each other, their attention trained on the water and its exact shape. She could sense her own blood flowing at a more measured rate, as her thoughts became more clear.</p><p>She was jealous of her brother's relationship, she had to admit to herself. Things hadn't been easy for Sokka and Suki, but now everything was perfect in their world. They seemed so happy and settled, their future completely assured and uncomplicated. They wanted the same things in life, and their culture gap was an easily jumped ravine rather than a gaping canyon. Marriage customs on the South Pole and Kyoshi Island were basically similar; the main differences were a matter of word choices at the ceremony rather than fundamental lifestyle setup. And children-the freedom and ease they would have regarding that choice, the <em>normalcy</em>….<em>They</em> would never have to share or make concessions-but if Katara thought too much about that, she would either get angry or weepy, so it would be best if she stopped that thought right there.</p><p>She knew she owed Aang an explanation of some kind. "It's funny, I'm sure it was hard for Sokka to see us together when he and Suki were broken up, but now when I see them together, it's hard for me." She confided.</p><p>His jaw tightened. "I think I know what you mean."</p><p>They continued passing the water, <em>right around you, left around me, again, and again.</em></p><p>Katara absolutely could <em>not</em> just ask, <em>do you love me?</em> Her pride forbade it. So she tried to think of a different question she could ask instead. "You said the Air Nomads didn't arrange their lives around living in pairs," she began.</p><p>"In the monastery they didn't. But, Katara, the monasteries are gone." Aang reminded her.</p><p>"I know."</p><p>"A monk without a monastery is just a hermit. I don't want to be a hermit."</p><p>"No, I don't think you'd like that. And...I wouldn't either." She admitted.</p><p>"You don't want me to live alone?"</p><p>"Not really. Unless you want to."</p><p>"I don't want to live alone."</p><p>"Me neither."</p><p>"Are you saying you want us to live together?" Aang asked, looking at her and not at the water.</p><p>She kept her attention determinedly on the water, afraid to answer directly. "We talked about traveling together, but not about settling down. Or even having a kind of...home base, a place to come back to between trips."</p><p>"You are my home base, Katara."</p><p>She let the water drop abruptly and looked at him. "What does that mean?"</p><p>"It means wherever you are, I'm home." He answered simply. "So I'm not worried about where we might settle down, or even whether or not we ever do stay for long in any one place, as long as you're with me."</p><p>Her throat felt tight. "That sounds like...arranging your life around..."</p><p>"Around you? I guess so. Maybe that makes me a bad monk." He shrugged. "I guess I'm the one who gets to decide which parts of my culture get reborn and which parts stay dead. If I have to give you up or keep you at a distance in order to be the perfect monk-well, that's just not going to happen. I'm sure Gyatso and the others would understand."</p><p><em>Could this be enough?</em> Katara wondered, staring at him, unable to believe sacrificing his people's way of life like this could be so simple for him. It made her want to be just as generous, so that he wasn't the only one compromising. Could he be home for her without a vow, without a ceremony to let everyone know what they were to each other? Just the fact that he'd known that she needed the water to help her come back to herself told her that he already was. She knew she loved him now, and she wasn't going to let anything stop her from keeping him as close as she could, for as long as she could, not even the mess in that box she was hiding inside.</p><p>She felt looser, more relaxed, safer. She was willing to try. She waded through the water to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I'm sorry about earlier."</p><p>"Are you kidding?" Aang pulled away just enough to grin at her. "I was about to ask if we could pick up where we left off." His voice was mischievous, only half serious, telling her that he was up for it, but only if she was, no pressure.</p><p>Katara found that the internal frenzy that had driven her earlier ambush was gone. She still wanted closeness, but not necessarily the kind she'd been reaching for before. "Can we just cuddle?" She asked, hoping he wasn't disappointed. She'd make up for it sometime.</p><p>"Of course," he smiled broadly at her. He could never feel let down if she was happy, and he could tell she felt much happier now than she'd been in that random bedroom. "Want to visit Appa?"</p><p>They climbed out of the fountain, dried off and put their shoes back on. Then the couple walked hand in hand to the stable where Appa slept when they were at the palace. After they greeted, fed, and petted the bison for a while, he settled down for a nap and they lay down between two of his legs, on a soft pile of straw. It was like being cocooned together in a wooly chrysalis.</p><p>"Thank you," she told him. "For bringing me to the water. For taking care of me, and not taking advantage. You knew exactly what I really needed."</p><p>"It doesn't feel right to me unless you feel right. I can tell." He answered stoutly. "And this is nice too. If that was bothering you, wondering about where or how we would live, then I'm glad we got it out in the open."</p><p>"Me too."</p><p>"And, you know, if there's ever anything else you want to talk about, I'm here." He reminded her.</p><p>She didn't respond. That felt like it was putting the onus on her. Now, if any problems arose from here on because she didn't say something, it would be her fault, and that didn't feel fair. But of course he didn't mean it that way; he was simply offering himself to her as support for anything.</p><p>They both had more questions to ask, more doubts to settle, more feelings to share. Each one contemplated starting any number of difficult conversations, but found they were so warm and comfortable and emotionally exhausted—they fell asleep together there in the stable.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Leave me a review to tell me what you think!</p><p>Next week: the Gaang revisits the Jang Hui river</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. The Painted Lady</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Yago, a great internet friend from the Kataang Discord and an awesome writer. Check out his canon-compatible missing moment one-shot series "Little Moments of Peace" on fanfiction.net, under the name BoomerAang18.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On a clear, warm spring day, Aang and his friends traveled on Appa's back to the Jang Hui River. Zuko had arranged for boats and balloons to send food, supplies, medicine, experts, and laborers for the clean up project; the shipments had arrived a couple of days before the sky bison landed. Though the teens' visit the previous year, especially "the Painted Lady's" sabotage of the nearby factory, had done much to cleanse the area of its problems, there was still a lot of work left to accomplish there.</p><p>It quickly became clear that Katara's talents were most needed in the infirmary. Though she had cured many illnesses on their first visit, the population had been exposed to so many toxins for so long that their bodies were ticking time bombs. Tumors and rashes and inexplicable symptoms had developed; Katara needed all of her new medical knowledge to make accurate diagnoses and rid the patients of the poisons they had been unable to avoid ingesting or absorbing.</p><p>Aang and Toph spent long, exhausting days cleaning the water of the river, separating the natural silt from the contamination that had seeped into the riverbed. They dug dozens of sunken motors out of the floor of a tributary stream, and Toph was even able to pull trace amounts of mercury, lead, and other metals out of the water itself.</p><p>Sokka was probably happiest of the group, working with the Mechanist to design a new purpose for the abandoned, half-destroyed factory building. They made a plan for turning half of the structure into a hospital; the other half would be dedicated to manufacturing the medicines from the herbs that only grew near the river. The novice engineer and his teacher were especially excited when they figured out a way to use the river's current to power the machinery that would bottle the herbal remedies.</p><p>They had been working that way for three days when Dock approached Katara and told her about a tradition the townspeople had decided to revive. He explained that before the factory came, the village had held yearly rituals to thank the patron spirit of their river. A girl from the village would dress up as the Painted Lady, and there were flowers and candles, and a banquet. They had stopped performing the ceremony when the factory was built, because it had seemed that the spirit had abandoned them. But now, they wanted to observe the rite again, for the first time in a decade. And they were inviting Katara to play the lead role. The feast was just a couple of days away, on the final night of their visit.</p><hr/><p>The week of clean up work was nearly over; the labor had been hard but satisfying. Though the waterway might never return to its untouched, natural state, Zuko had made a firm commitment to continue the work; life on the Jang Hui River would only improve. Aang and Katara were also considering making annual return visits to check on the health of the people and the local ecosystem.</p><p>The sun was setting on the final day the Avatar and his friends would spend in the village. There was a little while before the ritual, and Aang wanted to see his girlfriend before the celebration began.</p><p>"Where's Katara?" He asked each of his friends. Suki was the only one who had any idea. She said that after she'd helped the waterbender with her Painted Lady makeup, the girl had walked toward the end of the pier. Aang found her there, sitting with her feet dangling into the water, her hat with its veil sitting at her side. He joined her and sat there too. Something forlorn about the way she looked off into the distance called to him, and he longed to soothe whatever worry pinched the skin between her eyes.</p><p>He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. He looked at their hands intertwined, loving the way their different skin colors looked together. He traced the back of her fingers with his other hand, their wrists resting on his thigh. He swallowed, gathering his courage.</p><p>"At the dance party, you said you're scared, and ever since then, I've been thinking about all the reasons you might have to feel that way and what I could do to help you feel safer. I know dating the Avatar can't be easy; even with the war over, there are still always going to be dangers I'll have to face, and that you'll be subject to, just because of being with me. But I'm stronger now than I was when we met; I've mastered all of the elements, and I know I can protect you from any threat. I hope you know I'd do anything to keep you safe."</p><p>She shook her head. "I know all that. I'm not scared for myself at all. I'm stronger now, too; I can take care of myself."</p><p>"Then, are you worried that my Avatar duties will come between us?" Aang wondered. "That I'll have to travel too much, or that I won't have time for you?" <em>Or for our family</em>, he wanted to add, but he didn't want to presume they would have children. It was entirely her choice and they hadn't discussed it.</p><p>"Not really. I want to travel with you. You do a good job of making time for me. You make me a priority." Katara answered blithely.</p><p>"Then what..." He couldn't finish the thought.</p><p>Katara saw the guileless confusion in his eyes, and knew he might feel hurt if she couldn't explain herself. To him, her fear represented a lack of trust. She thought of the box of worries she kept shut in her heart, and decided to take one out and show him. She took a deep breath.</p><p>"I think one of the reasons I'm scared is because of your tendency to fly away in a crisis." She told him frankly. "You tried to leave Sokka and me behind in Senlin Village and travel alone to visit Roku at the Fire Sage temple. You flew away when Appa was stolen in the desert, and when you woke up on the ship, and you disappeared completely just before the comet….." She noticed his mouth dropping open at her list of his transgressions, and rushed to make sure he knew how deeply she empathized with his difficulties. "I know those were terrible moments for you. You were caught up in your own pain, and of course it was destiny for you to go to the lion turtle, but for me, not knowing where you were, or whether I'd ever see you again, or how I could help you-the only thing that was worse than that was when Azula struck you down, and then you were unconscious on the ship for so long."</p><p>Aang's eyes were wide with horror at himself, at what he'd done to her so carelessly. "I'm so sorry. That <em>is</em> a habit of mine, I can see that now. It goes back to when I ran away from the Air Temple. I wasn't even thinking about what it would be like for you, when I flew off those times. It was childish and irresponsible and self-centered, and the fact that I was-"</p><p>"You were in severe emotional distress. I forgave you for it." Katara pulled their joined hands into her own lap. His self-reproach let her know that her message had been received, and that was all she needed to hear. "And we weren't together then, not like we are now. You were trying to take on the world by yourself, and I hope you know you don't have to do that anymore. I want to be with you and help you through those moments when you want to run away, whether that means talking you through it on the ground, or taking off with you."</p><p>He shifted his seated position to face her more squarely, reaching to hold her other hand as well. What she was describing, it was everything he never knew he always wanted. To never feel the lonely despair that had driven him away from the Air Temple and after Appa. She was offering to save him from that isolation. He would never<em> need</em> to go off alone like that, because his best friend wanted to be with him through it all. He nodded, his eyes filling with tears, encouraging her as she went on.</p><p>"And I want to face danger <em>with</em> you." She squeezed his hands earnestly. "If you're in a fight, I want to be fighting alongside you, and healing you afterward if you need it. You know I'm pretty good at that."</p><p>"You're the best! I won't ever run away or leave you behind again, I promise." Aang swore. "We're a team. Like we were here. Taking down that polluting factory together."</p><p>Katara felt something inside her start to melt. She was finally ready to bring out the single biggest fear from that bursting box, the one that had kept her from admitting to herself what he meant to her for so long. "I mean, I feel the same way you said you did earlier, at the dance party. I'm scared of being with you, but I'm even more scared of being without you. Ultimately, I make the same calculation." She looked down, then straight ahead at the horizon. "One of the things that made me so confused before the comet, what I'm still worried about more than anything, is..."</p><p>"That I'll die." The airbender finished, bluntly.</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"I made it worse when I kissed you during the invasion, didn't I? Asking 'what if I don't make it?'?"</p><p>"Maybe. But once the war was over, everything felt so much safer, and that's how I finally had the courage to give in to my feelings for you." She explained. "And what I've found lately is, that my fear of losing you is manageable for me as long as we're together. It's probably a false sense of control that it gives me, but it makes it possible for me to handle it. It's when you disappear and confront enemies I can't see, that I can only imagine, that's when I just spiral and my anxiety takes hold of me."</p><p>"I get that. I think I'd feel the same way if we were separated, or if you were in trouble and I couldn't get to you." Aang remembered the urgency he'd felt leaving Guru Pathik behind, when he'd had that vision of her in chains.</p><p>"I mean, I understand that there might be times when we have to split up strategically, but I need to be part of that decision." She stipulated. "I can only accept it when I know there are no other options."</p><p>"Of course. I promise never to do that to you." He vowed solemnly. "That wouldn't be very fair and equal of me, to make a decision like that without even consulting you. It would be...paternalistic."</p><p>Katara was endlessly pleased and relieved that he understood. "Right. And you're not like that. You respect me as an equal partner."</p><p>"That's the only kind of partner I'd ever want. You could never be anything less." They grinned at each other in the last light of twilight. The sun was almost completely gone from the horizon. "It's probably almost time for that ceremony."</p><p>"Yes, we should go."</p><p>They stood. She put on her large cone-shaped hat with its veil and picked up her basket with items for the ritual.</p><p>"Do you feel better?" Aang asked.</p><p>"I do." Something in her chest felt lighter and looser, as if she'd let go of something she'd been carrying for so long she'd forgotten how heavy it was. "You're so thoughtful."</p><p>"I don't ever want to cause you pain."</p><p>"I know. I'm sure you won't."</p><p>He had to kiss her. He took the bottom edges of the diaphanous veil between his fingertips and lifted it up, over the top of the hat, revealing her face. The motion brought her closer as his hands naturally fell to her waist; she tilted her head back so that his crown fit under the rim of the hat. His kiss on her lips felt as soft and fleeting as the wind rippling the river, sealing his promise.</p><p>Aang couldn't have known that his gesture was one performed in every traditional Water Tribe wedding: the groom pulling back the veil to kiss his bride, often for the first time. But Katara knew, and it made her heart soar and ache at the same time.</p><p>Hand in hand, they walked back to the village, where the people were ready for the ritual, gathered on the docks.</p><p>At Katara's appearance, the villagers began singing a song comparing their lady to the flowers that grew on the hills of her river's tributary streams. Each person held a broad leaf and a short candle, and the lights of the tiny flames reflected in the river water. When Katara reached the center of the crowd, Aang let go her hand and took his place among the onlookers. Someone handed him a candle, and he watched, spellbound, as his love embodied a minor goddess.</p><p>Four children approached the Painted Lady, and she presented them with a fish, a bowl of rice, a bottle of medicine made from herbs grown on the riverbank, and a jug of cool, clear river water. One of the children offered her a candle, the other three, flowers. Then they moved back and bowed to her. After a bow of farewell, Katara stepped onto the water, bending so that she seemed to float ethereally on its surface. Then the villagers all placed their candles in the water on the leaves, and watched as the lights followed their lady. They stayed there singing until she disappeared around the riverbend.</p><p>The ritual complete, it was time for the feast. Zuko's stores provided a more elegant meal than the villagers had ever seen. Katara reappeared before the second courses were served, in her normal clothes, as if she'd never been honored with a special part in their ceremony.</p><p>It was almost midnight when the Avatar's friends returned to their camp. Aang wanted to tell Katara how moved he'd felt seeing her venerated, how he wanted to spend his whole life adoring her the same way, but they had already had one big, serious discussion, and they were both tired. After a short, sweet kiss, they said goodnight. She went to her tent, and he went to Appa.</p><p>Curled up on his furry friend's leg, Aang emptied his mind for sleep, but visions of his girlfriend in her costume would not leave him. He couldn't see her face behind that veil; he longed to lift it again and kiss her forever. He tried to come closer, but she drifted just out of reach.</p><p>"Katara?" He asked, confused at the way she was keeping her distance from him.</p><p>"No." The woman spoke, and it wasn't the voice he knew. The sound was echoey and otherworldly, resonating not in his ears but in his soul. He looked around him and noticed that the forest looked different, softer. It turned out that he hadn't slipped into a dream or fantasy: this was the spirit world.</p><p>"Are you the real Painted Lady?" He asked.</p><p>The spirit nodded, and he bowed.</p><p>"I wish to thank you for returning to my river. Your efforts to cleanse my waters are appreciated."</p><p>"You're very welcome."</p><p>"I also came to warn you, Avatar." The spirit's voice turned grave. "The hungry spirits are becoming restless. The wounds of the war are healing. Without battles and beatings to feed the starving ghosts, they may come to the surface to create the human pain they crave."</p><p>"Hei Bai told me something about this months ago. What should I do?" Aang asked, ready for action.</p><p>"The Avatar must be bound to the human world. If you remain unbound, you can be taken into the spirit world, and then there will be no one on earth to stop the hungry spirits when they come. Though you are young, the love you share with the waterbender is strong enough to afford you protection."</p><p>"What does Katara have to do with this?"</p><p>The Painted Lady didn't respond to his question, but went on. "You must guard yourself against isolation. It is when you are alone that you are most vulnerable. And remember that we spirits are… tricksters. Any choice a spirit offers you is a false one, phrased for purposeful manipulation."</p><p>"What does that mean? Are you tricking me now?"</p><p>"No, Avatar. But someday, another spirit might try. Be warned." She dissolved into the river, leaving only fireflies drifting through the atmosphere, reminiscent of the candles floating on the water earlier that evening.</p><p>Back on earth, Aang lay awake pondering the cryptic message, turning the words over and over in his head, trying to understand it and translate it into a more concrete prediction or instruction. What did it mean to be bound to the world, or unbound? His best guess was that the Painted Lady was telling him that Katara would have to sacrifice herself in some way to protect him, and the rest of the world. He couldn't let that happen.</p><p>In the morning, Katara woke more refreshed and energetic than she had in months. She greeted her boyfriend with an enthusiastic hug, making him chuckle at her exuberance.</p><p>"You slept well?" He asked. There was barely enough breath in his lungs to speak, she was squeezing him so tightly.</p><p>"Better than ever!" She smacked her lips on his cheek. Then she pulled back enough to look at his face and caught the tiredness in his eyes. "What about you?" She asked, concerned.</p><p>"Bad dreams," he answered shortly, touching his forehead to hers. She was safe and whole in his arms, and that soothed him. "And I missed you," he whispered.</p><p>"Want a massage later?" She asked brightly.</p><p>"That sounds great."</p><p>They parted, ready to work with their friends to pack up camp, so they could fly back to the palace.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: Leave a review to tell me what you think, or ask me any questions!</p><p>Next chapter: Katara attends a play with a friend</p>
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